Trump Sues JPMorgan for $5 Billion Over January 6 Debanking: Cites ‘Woke’ Political Bias
President Donald Trump filed a massive $5 billion lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase on Thursday, accusing the financial giant and its CEO Jamie Dimon of politically motivated “debanking” following the events of January 6, 2021.
The lawsuit, filed in a Florida state court in Miami by attorney Alejandro Brito, alleges that JPMorgan closed multiple Trump-related accounts without cause, driven by anti-conservative bias and the bank’s attempt to distance itself from Trump’s views amid political pressure. According to the suit, JPMorgan’s actions inflicted substantial financial damage and violated its own policies.
“JPMC debanked Plaintiffs’ Accounts because it believed that the political tide at the moment favored doing so,” the lawsuit reads. It alleges the decision was rooted in “political and social motivations” and “woke” corporate culture, rather than any legitimate regulatory concern.
According to the complaint, JPMorgan gave Trump just two months’ notice on February 19, 2021, before permanently cutting ties. The bank did not provide any opportunity for Trump or his businesses to appeal the decision or seek alternatives, the filing notes.
As a result, Trump’s legal team says he suffered “considerable financial harm” due to both the abrupt loss of access to JPMorgan’s services and the need to establish “less favorable” banking arrangements with other institutions.
The suit further alleges that JPMorgan added Trump and his affiliated businesses to an internal blacklist that flags clients as high risk. This list, the lawsuit claims, is visible to other federally regulated institutions and is typically reserved for individuals or entities accused of serious financial misconduct.
JPMorgan has been previously criticized for debanking religious and conservative organizations, including the National Committee for Religious Freedom, founded by former U.S. Senator and Ambassador Sam Brownback. The bank has denied that it targets clients based on politics or religion.
In response to the lawsuit, JPMorgan issued a statement defending its practices and denying any political motivations:
“While we regret President Trump has sued us, we believe the suit has no merit,” the bank said. “We do close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company… We have been asking both this Administration and prior administrations to change the rules and regulations that put us in this position.”
CEO Jamie Dimon previously addressed the debanking controversy, saying the bank does not discriminate based on political or religious affiliation.
“We do not debank people because of political or religious affiliations,” Dimon said last year, while acknowledging that federal rules can sometimes lead to unfair outcomes. “The rules and requirements are so onerous, and it does cause people to be debanked who, in my opinion, should not be debanked.”
Trump’s lawsuit marks one of the highest-profile legal battles over what critics call the “weaponization of finance” against conservatives.