President Donald Trump is taking the nation’s largest banks and what ensues just may affect average Americans. Trump claims that many banks have an unfair bias against political conservatives and businesses that are traditionally aligned with the right wing, such as oil and gas companies and gun manufacturers.
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But is there any merit to Trump’s claims? And more importantly, could these implications affect you directly? Here’s what could happen to you as Trump takes on the big banks.
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What Is Trump Really Claiming?
In an Aug. 5 interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Trump specifically targeted JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. According to Trump, at some unspecified date, JPMorgan Chase told him he had to move “hundreds of millions of dollars in cash” to another bank within 20 days.
After that, Trump attempted to “deposit a billion dollars-plus” with Bank of America, but was denied, with the bank refusing to open an account on his behalf.
According to Trump, ″[Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan] said, ‘We can’t do it.’ So, I went to another one, another one, another one. I ended up going to small banks all over the place. I mean, I was putting $10 million here, $10 million there.”
This is not the first time Trump has taken on banks. One of his first actions after he took office back in January 2025 was to call out B of A and Chase for refusing to serve conservatives. While speaking about Moynihan, Trump took the chance to call out JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as well, saying “you and Jamie and everybody, I hope you’re going to open your banks to conservatives because what you’re doing is wrong.”
This time, however, the rhetoric is moving towards actual policy. On Aug. 7, the president took action, issuing an executive order to combat this so-called “debanking.” As reported by Reuters, the order is intended to prevent banks from refusing financial services to anyone based on religious or political beliefs. The order gives regulators 180 days to review banks’ practices for unfair, discriminatory practices.
How Have the Banks Responded?
Not surprisingly, the banks Trump is targeting have fought back, saying that they don’t discriminate in any way when it comes to opening accounts. In fact, they’ve gone the extra step of saying they “welcome” any type of regulation that makes banking a more even playing field for everyone.
JPMorgan Chase spokesperson Trish Wexler issued a statement responding to Trump’s claims, saying “We don’t close accounts for political reasons, and we agree with President Trump that regulatory change is desperately needed. We commend the White House for addressing this issue and look forward to working with them to get this right.”
Similarly, Bank of America spokesperson Bill Halldin said the bank was supportive of the “Trump administration’s efforts to provide regulatory clarity to banks,” according to Politico.
Could This Be an Issue for the Everyday American?
How this issue will exactly play out in a legal, real-world setting is open for debate at this point. As quoted in Reuters, David Sewell, a partner at law firm Freshfields, says that “most banks already have policies and procedures governing when they’ll decline to open an account or close accounts for existing customers, typically emphasizing things like money-laundering risk or solvency concerns. Today’s order puts increased pressure on those policies.”
But the bottom line is that for most bank customers, nothing will change. On the off chance that you were denied banking services due to your political or religious leanings, this executive order may pave the way to more financial freedom. But by and large, this order will have little effect on the average American. Still, the banter back-and-forth is worth watching in case it evolves into something that affects more account holders.
Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Trump Says He’s Cracking Down On America’s Biggest Banks: Could It Impact You?
