In a recent court filing, JPMorgan Chase has finally confirmed that it closed the bank accounts of President Donald Trump and several of his businesses in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. This admission marks a significant development in the ongoing legal battle over the controversial practice of “debanking.”
The acknowledgment came as part of Trump’s $5 billion lawsuit against the bank and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, where he alleges that his accounts were closed for political reasons, resulting in disruptions to his business operations. JPMorgan’s former chief administrative officer, Dan Wilkening, revealed in the court filing that the bank informed Trump in February 2021 that certain accounts maintained with JPMorgan’s private bank and commercial bank would be closed.
Up until this point, JPMorgan had never officially acknowledged closing the president’s accounts, only speaking hypothetically about their account closure policies. Despite attempts to reach out to a spokesperson for the bank, emails and text messages went unanswered.
The lawsuit, originally filed in Florida state court where Trump currently resides, accuses JPMorgan of trade libel and Dimon of violating Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Trump claims that he personally raised concerns with Dimon when his accounts were being closed but received no follow-up from the CEO. Additionally, Trump’s lawyers allege that JPMorgan placed him and his companies on a reputational “blacklist,” preventing them from opening accounts with other banks in the future.
While JPMorgan has maintained that the lawsuit lacks merit, Trump’s legal team sees the confirmation of the debanking as a significant victory. They argue that the intentional debanking of Trump, his family, and his businesses by JPMorgan has caused substantial financial harm and are committed to seeing the case through to a just conclusion.
Debanking has become a contentious issue in recent years, with conservative politicians claiming that banks have discriminated against them and their affiliated interests. Trump’s lawyers are adamant that the president is not just fighting for himself but for all those who have been wrongly debanked by JPMorgan Chase and other institutions.
The issue of debanking first gained national attention during the Obama administration’s “Operation Choke Point,” where conservatives accused the government of pressuring banks to cut off services to certain businesses. Trump and other conservative figures have alleged that banks used “reputational risk” as a pretext to close their accounts following the Capitol attack. In response, Trump’s banking regulators have moved to prevent banks from denying services based on reputational risk.
This isn’t the first time Trump has taken legal action against a major bank for debanking. In March 2025, the Trump Organization sued Capital One for similar reasons, and that case is still ongoing. The broader implications of these lawsuits could have far-reaching consequences for the banking industry and its relationship with high-profile clients.
