Capital One says it terminated Trump account over money laundering concerns
Capital One Bank closed Donald Trump’s bank accounts in 2021,citing concerns over money laundering as the primary reason. The Trump Organization sued the bank,alleging political persecution and de-banking related to the January 6 Capitol riot. In response, Capital One stated that the closures resulted from thorough analysis by their anti-money laundering team and were not politically motivated, emphasizing that they provided Trump with several months to find alternative banking services. The bank also noted it reserved the right to terminate accounts at any time for any reason. Trump’s legal team strongly rejected the bank’s explanation, claiming the de-banking was politically motivated and that the financial institution fabricated the money laundering justification after the accounts were closed. This case is part of a broader pattern of banks terminating relationships with Trump and his associates, amid ongoing political debates over the practice of de-banking, which Trump has publicly condemned and sought to regulate through an executive order in August 2025.
Capital One Bank said concerns over money laundering were behind the closure of one of President Donald Trump’s bank accounts in 2021, responding to a lawsuit from one of Trump’s financial holding companies.
The Trump Organization’s lawsuit held that the company persecuted Trump over his political beliefs, “de-banking” him after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In a court filing Friday, however, Capital One claimed for the first time publicly that the timing was coincidental and that the real reason for terminating Trump’s bank accounts was due to money laundering concerns.
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“The closures were the result of months of analysis and a careful review by Capital One’s [Anti-Money Laundering] team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance,” the bank said in a court filing.
Capital One said the decision was made after analysis from AML professionals “with decades of law enforcement experience,” and that it “never publicized the termination decision nor its confidential internal process.”
It also claimed that it gave Trump “several months (and granted several extensions) to find new banking services, which they did,” and dismissed the lawsuit’s “new theories” as “based on cherry-picked quotations.”
However, the bank also wrote that it reserved the right to terminate dealings with Trump “at any time, for any or no reason and without notice.”
Trump’s legal team rejected Capital One’s explanation in a Monday statement.
“Capital One, along with other major banks, de-banked President Trump, his family, and his businesses for blatantly political reasons,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team told the Associated Press. “President Trump’s powerful lawsuit holds Capital One accountable for its disgraceful conduct, and we look forward to seeing this matter through to a just and proper conclusion.”
TRUMP ORGANIZATION SUES CAPITAL ONE FOR TRYING TO ‘DEBANK’ COMPANY
Trump’s lawyers argued that the anti-money-laundering explanation was invented only after the fact to justify the termination, something Capital One says there’s no evidence for.
Trump’s lawsuit against Capital One is just one of multiple targeting banks that terminated services with him, JP Morgan being another. The president has taken up the cause of de-banking, a growing complaint from conservatives over the past decade, signing an executive order in August 2025 instructing regulators to crack down on banks that pursue the practice over political disagreements.
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