Trump’s Trust Sues Capital One Over Account Closures

Some of Trump’s bank accounts were closed by several institutions in 2021.

The logo and ticker for Capital One are displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 21, 2018. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

President Donald Trump’s organization along with son Eric Trump filed a lawsuit on Friday against Capital One for “unilaterally” terminating hundreds of related accounts resulting in financial losses.

The lawsuit, filed on March 7 by Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, DJT Holdings, DTTM Operations, and Eric Trump, accuses the Virginia-based bank of debanking the plaintiffs and their affiliated entities without any advance notice due to which they “suffered considerable financial harm and losses caused not only by the interruption to their access to Capital One’s banking services, but also by the devastating impact on Plaintiffs’ ability to transact and access their monies.”

According to the lawsuit filed in the Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Capital One informed the Trump organizations on March 8, 2021, that their accounts would be closed on June 7, 2021. The bank allegedly did not offer any “recourse, remedy, or alternative—its decision was final.”

The plaintiffs said they believe Capital One was harboring “unsubstantiated, ‘woke’ beliefs that it needed to distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political views” that motivated the bank to abruptly close the organizations’ accounts.

The plaintiffs said that Capital One’s decision was part of a growing trend by U.S. institutions to “cut off a consumer’s access to banking services if their political views contradict with those of the financial institution.”

A reason given for filing the lawsuit in Florida was state statute 655.0323, which says it is an “unsafe and unsound practice for a financial institution to deny or cancel its services” to people holding a differing political or religious opinion.

Capital One has a market capitalization of around $66 billion and has operations in Florida.

A spokesperson said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times that “Capital One has not and does not close customer accounts for political reasons.”

Banking for Conservatives

On Jan. 22, Trump, during his speech to the World Economic Forum summit attendees, reprimanded large U.S. banks for discriminating against conservative individuals and organizations.

“I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives, because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank, and that included a place called Bank of America,” said Trump, addressing Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.

“I don’t know if the regulators mandated that, because of Biden or what, but you and Jamie [Dimon, JPMorgan Chase CEO,] and everybody, I hope you open your banks to conservatives because what you’re doing is wrong.”

In 2021, after President Joe Biden assumed power, Trump was targeted by multiple banks. Two Miami-area banks, Bank United and Professional Bank, closed accounts related to Trump.

Earlier, Signature Bank in New York and Deutsche Bank also terminated their banking relationships with Trump.

Last year, a group of 15 attorneys general sent a letter to Bank of America asking it to stop debanking clients for political reasons. They said that banking services are a societal necessity and that is why “national banks like yours receive bailouts and many other privileges, courtesy of the American taxpayers.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), normally a fierce opponent of Trump, lent the president her support on the issue earlier last month.

“Donald Trump was onto a real problem when he criticized Bank of America for its de-banking practices,” she said at a Feb. 5 Senate Banking hearing.

The letter by the attorneys general, along with Warren’s support, was highlighted in the lawsuit filed by the Trump organizations.

“We take this issue very seriously,” a Bank of America spokesperson told Reuters in January after Trump’s speech to the Davos crowd. “We will be engaging with the administration and Congress regarding the extensive government regulations that sometimes result in requirements to exit relationships.

“We never close accounts for political reasons and don’t have a political litmus test.”

Banks also say the rules around who can be served are unclear.

“There should be far cleaner lines about what we have to do and we don’t have to do,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in a podcast this week, before Trump made his comments. “We’ve been complaining about this for years. We need to fix it.”

Reuters contributed to the report.