Capital One Says It Closed Trump Organization's Accounts After Anti-Mone…

Capital One Financial Inc. Has formally stated that it closed more than 300 bank accounts linked to the Trump Organization following a months-long review by its anti-money laundering (AML) team, according to court filings cited by multiple outlets. The disclosure, first reported by Reuters and echoed by outlets including HuffPost, Yahoo Finance, and the Nikkei, marks the first time a major U.S. bank has explicitly tied the closure of accounts to AML concerns related to President Donald Trump’s family business.

The move comes amid a legal battle with the Trump Organization, which sued Capital One in March 2025, alleging the closures were motivated by political bias rather than financial risk. The lawsuit, filed in a Florida federal court, claims the accounts were terminated in the wake of the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, with the Trump Organization accusing Capital One of aligning with “woke” corporate values. However, Capital One’s recent court filing disputes these claims, asserting that the decisions were based on “careful review” of transaction patterns flagged by federal banking guidance.

Capital One notified the Trump Organization of its intent to close the accounts in March 2021, but the legal dispute did not escalate until the Trump Organization and Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, filed a lawsuit nearly four years later. The bank’s latest filing argues that the plaintiffs’ allegations are “misguided” and rely on “cherry-picked quotations” without contextual evidence. It emphasized that its AML team followed internal policies and regulatory standards, without directly accusing the Trump Organization of illegal money laundering.

The case has unfolded against a backdrop of heightened political tensions over financial institutions’ practices. Since taking office in 2025, Trump has criticized banks for what he calls “discriminatory debanking,” leading to an executive order in August 2025 that prohibits financial institutions from denying services based on political or religious grounds. The president has also pursued legal action against other banks, including a separate lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase in January 2026 over similar allegations.

The Trump Organization’s legal team has faced repeated setbacks in the case. A federal court in Miami dismissed two earlier complaints but allowed the plaintiffs to resubmit amended filings. Capital One’s latest argument, submitted in July 2026, contends that the latest version of the lawsuit repeats the “fundamental flaws” of prior iterations. The bank’s filing highlights that the transaction patterns under review were consistent with those flagged by federal regulators, though it stops short of asserting any wrongdoing by the Trump Organization.

The dispute also intersects with broader scrutiny of AML practices in the wake of past controversies. In 2019, during Trump’s first term, he sued Capital One and Deutsche Bank to block the release of financial records to Congress as part of a probe into potential ties between the Trump Organization and foreign entities. At the time, anti-money laundering professionals at Deutsche Bank reportedly flagged suspicious transactions, though the bank denied the allegations. The current case underscores the ongoing legal and political challenges banks face in balancing compliance with regulatory demands and political pressures.

Capital One and the Trump Organization have not publicly commented on the latest developments. The outcome of the lawsuit could set a precedent for how banks navigate AML obligations amid increasing political polarization. For now, the case remains in the courts, with Capital One seeking to solidify its defense of the account closures as a routine compliance measure rather than a politically motivated act.