Trump sues JPMorgan Chase Bank for improperly cutting off from financial

US President Donald Trump, along with Trump-owned LLCs, sued JPMorgan Chase Bank (JPMC) and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, on Thursday.

Citing breach of JPMC’s code of conduct, the lawsuit alleges that the bank closed down several accounts that Trump either owned or was a beneficiary of. The complaint states:

Plaintiffs suffered considerable financial harm and losses caused not only by the interruption to their access to JPMC’s banking services, but also by the devastating impact on Plaintiffs’ ability to transact and access their monies, and by having to enter into less favorable business arrangements with other financial institutions.

The plaintiffs further claim they experienced “extensive reputational harm” by having to move their funds and accounts to other institutions after being “debunked by JPMC.”

The complaint contends that JPMC, at the direction of Dimon, placed some of the plaintiffs’ names, including Trump’s, on a blacklist that can be accessed by other federal financial institutions. Trump cites the launch of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force by former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2009, whose purpose was to investigate financial crimes such as mortgage, securities, and corporate fraud. These efforts later became known as Operation Choke Point, which was later revamped by former President Joe Biden in 2021. According to the plaintiffs, Operation Choke Point “led to countless legal businesses losing access to banking services, which had a devastating impact on those businesses and the communities they operated in.” And in 2021, banks themselves, including JPMC, began debanking a variety of customers—among those, Trump and his affiliates.

The complaint emphasizes that debanking is a widespread bipartisan issue in the United States. Some of the causes of action in the lawsuit include trade libel against JPMC, violation of Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act against Dimon, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing against JPMC.

In a statement, JPMC said, “While we regret President Trump has sued us, we believe the suit has no merit … We respect the president’s right to sue us and our right to defend ourselves—that’s what courts are for.” The suit came after Trump announced his intentions to seek redress from JPMC last week, arguing that the 2020 election was rigged and that he was debanked after the January 6th riot. JPMC is the largest financial institution in the United States.