Capital One said Friday in court documents that it closed roughly 300 Trump Organization bank accounts in 2021 after “months of analysis and a careful review” by the lender’s anti-money laundering team, marking the first time a major bank has formally tied such concerns to President Trump’s family business in litigation.
The disclosure came as Capital One sought to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Trump Organization in March 2025. Capital One gave notice of its plans to close the accounts in March 2021, about two months after the January 6 Capitol riot.
Capital One has never accused the Trump Organization of illegal money laundering. However, the bank stated in Friday’s filing that “the transaction patterns identified by Capital One are among the types of activity flagged by federal banking guidance.” The Trump Organization alleged in its lawsuit that the closures were motivated by Capital One’s “woke beliefs” and a desire to benefit from the political climate after January 6.
Capital One argued that the Trump Organization’s claims of political pretext were “misguided” and “based on cherry-picked quotations unsupported by the full context” of submitted documents. The bank emphasized that the AML team that conducted the review consisted of professionals “with decades of law enforcement experience.”
The federal court in Miami has dismissed two earlier versions of the Trump Organization’s complaint but allowed the plaintiffs to file amended versions each time. Capital One’s latest motion contends that the most recent complaint, filed in July, “suffers from the same fundamental flaws as their prior two pleadings.”
According to Capital One’s filing, the Trump Organization has stated it could have explained the flagged transactions if asked, but the bank questioned how such an explanation “would have altered Capital One’s determination or prevented the account closures.” Under the parties’ agreement, Capital One said, the Trump Organization was not entitled to any reason for the closure decision.
Capital One is not the only financial institution Trump or his businesses have sued over alleged political debanking. Trump filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase in January 2026, alleging trade libel and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. JPMorgan’s lawyers have called Trump’s lawsuit “threadbare.” Trump also signed an executive order in August 2025 barring discriminatory debanking, as his administration has put pressure on major banks over what conservative figures claim are politically motivated account closures.
The debanking issue has become a focal point of Trump’s second term, with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation adopting rules in 2026 to address the practice. The Trump Organization’s ability to secure banking services elsewhere “promptly” after the Capital One closure, according to the bank’s filing, undercuts claims of widespread harm.
Sources
- Banking Dive — Capital One’s court filing on August 4, 2026, stating the bank closed roughly 300 Trump Organization accounts after months of AML review and seeking to dismiss the lawsuit.
- Reuters — Capital One’s disclosure that it closed more than 300 Trump-affiliated accounts following an anti-money laundering review, and the bank’s assertion that transaction patterns matched federal banking guidance.
- AP News — Capital One’s statement that Trump’s accounts were closed in mid-2021 after flagging financial activity resembling money laundering, and confirmation of the March 2025 lawsuit filing.
- ABC News — The Trump Organization’s closure in 2021 following a monthslong anti-money laundering review by Capital One’s team, and the bank’s denial of political motivation.
