Trump says banks discriminate against his supporters while White House prepares order

Reuters

3 days ago

WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he believes that banks discriminate against him and his supporters, adding that Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase had previously refused to accept his deposits.
"They totally discriminate against, I think, me maybe even more, but they discriminate against many conservatives," he told CNBC in an interview. "I think the word might be Trump supporters more than conservatives."
Trump made the comments when asked about a report by the Wall Street Journal that said he planned to punish banks that discriminated against conservatives, but did not address the order specifically.
The order instructs regulators to review banks for "politicized or unlawful debanking" practices, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters.
"Well, they did discriminate," Trump said of actions taken by JPMorgan Chase after his first term in office. "I had hundreds of millions, I had many, many accounts loaded up with cash ... and they told me, 'I'm sorry sir, we can't have you. You have 20 days to get out.'"
Trump said, without providing evidence, that he believed that the banks' refusal to take his deposits indicated that the administration of former President Joe Biden had encouraged banking regulators to "destroy Trump."
Trump said he subsequently tried to deposit funds with Bank of America and was also refused, and eventually split the cash among a number of smaller banks.
"The banks discriminated against me very badly," he said.
In a statement, JPMorgan did not address the president's specific claim that it had discriminated against him.
'We don't close accounts for political reasons, and we agree with President Trump that regulatory change is desperately needed," JPMorgan said. "We commend the White House for addressing this issue and look forward to working with them to get this right.'
Bank of America declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that the expected executive order would instruct regulators to investigate whether any financial institutions breach the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, antitrust laws or consumer financial protection laws by dropping customers for political reasons.
It said the order could be signed as early as this week, authorizing monetary penalties, consent decrees or other disciplinary measures against violators.
The White House had no immediate comment on the reported order.
Trump in January said the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America denied services to conservatives. At the time, the two banks denied making banking decisions based on politics.
"This seems to be rhetoric that will likely be forgotten by lunchtime," said David Wagner, head of equities at Aptus Capital Advisors. "I don't see any material impact on banks, as there are many other drivers that will ultimately presage performance for banks, such as deregulation."
JPMorgan and Bank of America shares both fell about 1%, in line with a decline for the broader S&P Bank index.
Banks have consistently argued that any complaints about "debanking" should be aimed at regulators, as they argue onerous rules and bank supervisors policing firms can discourage them from engaging in certain activities.
"The heart of the problem is regulatory overreach and supervisory discretion," the Bank Policy Institute, an industry group, said in a statement.
"The banking agencies have already taken steps to address issues like reputational risk, and we're hopeful that any forthcoming executive order will reinforce this progress by directing regulators to confront the flawed regulatory framework that gave rise to these concerns in the first place."