Trump sues JPMorgan Chase and Jamie Dimon for at least $5bn | Donald Trump

Donald Trump has sued JPMorgan Chase and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, for at least $5 billion after accusing America’s largest bank of “unbanking” him.

The US president alleged that JPMorgan stopped offering him banking services following the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. Earlier this month, he claimed the company had discriminated against him “incorrectly and inappropriately.”

The suit was filed in Miami by Alejandro Brito, Trump’s Miami-based personal lawyer, who was also involved in Trump’s lawsuit against media companies such as ABC News and the BBC for defamation.

“While we regret that President Trump sued us, we believe this lawsuit has no merit,” JPMorgan said in a statement. “We respect the president’s right to sue us and our right to defend ourselves – that’s what the courts are for.”

The bank “does not close accounts for political or religious reasons,” a spokesperson added. “We close accounts because they create a legal or regulatory risk for the business. We regret having to do so but often the rules and regulatory expectations push us to do so.”

JPMorgan shares fell slightly after the filing was first released. They were trading up 0.9% late afternoon in New York.

In Thursday’s lawsuit, Trump’s lawyers alleged that JPMorgan blacklisted Trump, the Trump Organization and its affiliated entities, as well as members of Trump’s family.

JPMorgan “provided no remedy, remedy or alternative to Plaintiffs – its decision was final and unequivocal,” the lawsuit claims, asserting that Trump and the other plaintiffs are “believed that JPMC’s unilateral decision was the result of political and social motivations, and JPMC’s unfounded and ‘woke’ beliefs that it needed to distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political critics.”

Last weekend, Trump announced on social media that he would file a lawsuit against JPMorgan, accusing the bank of deleting his accounts after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Trump said several banks, including JPMorgan and Bank of America, rejected his deposits after the riots, although both banks have denied the allegations.

The post appeared to be inspired by a Wall Street Journal report that Trump offered Dimon the role of Federal Reserve chairman last year. Trump denied the accusation and said he would sue the bank.

In response to Saturday’s social media post, JPMorgan said in a statement: “We agree that no one’s account should ever be terminated because of their political or religious beliefs. »

“We appreciate that this administration has decided to address political debanking and we support these efforts,” the statement said.

Dimon came to the defense of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell earlier this month after it emerged that Trump’s Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation against him.

The JPMorgan CEO said he has “tremendous respect for Jay Powell, the man” despite his disagreement with some of the Fed’s policy choices. “Everything that erodes [the Fed’s independence] it’s not a good idea,” he said, warning that it risks pushing up inflation and interest rates.

In a quick response, Trump said Dimon was wrong and “that’s what I do.” “We should have lower rates,” Trump said last week. “Jamie Dimon probably wants higher rates, maybe he makes more money that way.”

At the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Dimon was particularly critical of Trump’s proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for the first year, calling the idea a potential “economic disaster.”

He also suggested that the United States had become less trustworthy under Trump. “If you said to me, ‘Has America become unreliable?’ No,” Dimon said at an event. “It’s just that you had complete trust, and now it’s less trustworthy.”

Trump is one of several right-wing figures to complain about being “unbanked” by major financial institutions because of their political positions.

In the UK, NatWestGroup CEO Dame Alison Rose resigned in 2023 after admitting to being behind an inaccurate BBC article about why British reform leader Nigel Farage had been “debanked”. Farage threatened to take the bank to court and later settled the matter.