President Donald Trump revealed Tuesday that JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, the two largest U.S. banks, refused to serve him, forcing him to disperse hundreds of millions of dollars across smaller institutions.
In a wide-ranging interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Trump said JPMorgan gave him 20 days to move his money, and that Bank of America flatly denied his request to deposit over $1 billion.
“Brian Moynihan [CEO of Bank of America] said, ‘We can’t do it,’” Trump said.
“So I went to another one, another one, another one. I ended up going to small banks all over the place. I mean, I was putting $10 million here, $10 million there.”
The disclosures reignited concerns that large financial institutions are targeting conservatives, faith-based groups, and political opponents with account closures and service denials — a trend known as “de-banking.”
Trump: Banks Acting Under Biden-Era Regulatory Pressure
While banks deny targeting clients for political reasons, Trump suggested the real culprit is regulatory pressure imposed under the Biden administration. Trump believes the banks are responding to risk warnings and bureaucratic overreach, particularly after January 6, 2021.
“These banks are scared of their own regulators. They’ve been bullied by the system,” Trump implied during the interview.
The issue came to a head again in March, when Trump’s company sued Capital One, alleging that the bank improperly closed more than 300 accounts just months after the Capitol riot. Capital One denied wrongdoing.
JPMorgan, Bank of America Respond
JPMorgan denied any political motivation in its account closures, but agreed with Trump’s broader criticism of regulatory overreach:
“We don’t close accounts for political reasons, and we agree with President Trump that regulatory change is desperately needed,” a JPMorgan spokeswoman said Tuesday.
“We commend the White House for addressing this issue and look forward to working with them to get this right.”
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan also weighed in, saying:
“We bank everybody, but the reality is, we want to make sure that the rules and regulations don’t cause decisions we make that then are looked at in the aftermath and questioned.”
Shares of both banks fell more than 1% following Trump’s comments.
Executive Order Incoming
The Trump administration is now preparing an executive order that would punish banks for politically motivated account closures, according to The Wall Street Journal. The draft order reportedly:
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Threatens financial penalties
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Directs regulators to investigate political discrimination
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Seeks to prevent future “de-banking” of lawful customers
A source familiar with the order said it is aimed at reinforcing First Amendment protections and restoring neutrality in the financial system.
