Trump sues banking giant JPMorgan Chase for $5bn in debanking row
The lawsuit accuses the company of "debanking" the President, which alleges he was denied access to bank accounts to avoid reputational risk
Donald Trump is suing banking giant JPMorgan Chase and its Chief Executive Jamie Dimon for $5bn (£4bn).
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The US President has accused the firm of "debanking" him and his businesses for political reasons after he was voted out of office in January 2021.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade County Court in Florida, alleges that JPMorgan abruptly closed multiple accounts in February 2021 with just 60 days' notice and no explanation.
By doing so, Mr Trump claims the company cut him and his businesses off from millions of dollars, disrupted their operations and forced the Republican to urgently open bank accounts elsewhere.
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The lawsuit alleges: "JPMC debanked (Trump and his businesses) because it believed that the political tide at the moment favoured doing so,"
In the lawsuit, Mr Trump alleges he tried to raise the issue personally with Mr Dimon after the bank started to close his accounts, and that Mr Dimon assured Mr Trump he would probe what was happening.
Mr Trump's lawyers also allege that JPMorgan placed the President and his companies on a reputational "blacklist" that both JPMorgan and other banks use to keep clients from opening accounts with them in the future.
In a statement, JP Morgan said that it "regrets" that Mr Trump sued them but insisted they did not close the accounts for political reasons.
"We believe the suit has no merit," a spokesperson said.
"JPMC does not close accounts for political or religious reasons. We do close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company," it added.
Once a relatively obscure issue in finance, debanking has become a politically charged issue in recent years, with conservative politicians arguing that banks have discriminated against them and their affiliated interests.
Mr Trump and other conservative figures have alleged that banks cut them off from their accounts under the umbrella term of "reputational risk" after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
It first became a national issue when conservatives accused the Obama administration of pressuring banks to stop extending services to gun stores and payday lenders under "Operation Choke Point."
Mr Trump accuses the bank of trade libel and accuses Mr Dimon himself of violating Florida's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.