Capital One Says Trump Organization Accounts Were Closed Following Anti-Money Laundering Review

Capital One Financial said on Friday that it is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the Trump Organization over the closure of its bank accounts, arguing that the decision was based on an extensive anti-money laundering (AML) review conducted by the bank’s compliance specialists rather than political considerations.

The court filing represents the first formal instance in which a bank has connected anti-money laundering concerns to the business operations of U.S. President Donald Trump’s family company. Through its motion to dismiss, Capital One is challenging allegations that it unlawfully "debanked" the Trump Organization by denying banking services because of religious or political bias.

Neither the Trump Organization nor Capital One immediately responded to requests for comment.

Although Capital One emphasized that it has never accused the Trump Organization of engaging in illegal money laundering, the bank stated in its filing that, "documents and Plaintiffs’ own allegations make clear that Capital One closed Plaintiffs’ accounts for anti-money laundering (“AML”) reasons. The closures were the result of months of analysis and a careful review by Capital One’s AML team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance."

Capital One informed the Trump Organization in March 2021 that it intended to close more than 300 accounts associated with the business. Four years later, in March 2025, the Trump Organization and Eric Trump, the president’s son, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Florida.

They alleged that Capital One had terminated the accounts because of the bank’s "woke" beliefs and its desire to align itself with the political climate that followed the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The case has already seen two versions of the complaint dismissed by the federal court in Miami, although the plaintiffs were permitted on both occasions to submit amended complaints. Capital One argued in Friday’s filing that the most recent complaint, filed in July, "suffers from the same fundamental flaws as their prior two pleadings."

The bank further rejected claims that politics played any role in its decision, stating that the Trump Organization’s allegations of political motivation were "misguided" and "based on cherry-picked quotations unsupported by the full context" of documents presented to the court.

According to the filing, "The transaction patterns identified by Capital One are among the types of activity flagged by federal banking guidance."

The legal dispute comes amid increased political scrutiny of major U.S. financial institutions during President Trump’s second term. His administration has intensified pressure on large banks, reflecting longstanding complaints from conservatives that financial institutions have deliberately denied services to customers because of their political affiliations.

In August 2025, Trump signed an executive order prohibiting discriminatory debanking practices. Earlier this year, in January, he also filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, making similar allegations that the bank had improperly denied services, highlighting the difficult political and regulatory environment facing Wall Street during his second administration.

The latest case also revives attention to Trump’s earlier legal battles with financial institutions. In 2019, during his first term as president, Trump sued Capital One and Deutsche Bank in an effort to prevent the banks from providing his financial records to Congress during an investigation led by Democratic lawmakers.

Separately, anti-money laundering professionals at Deutsche Bank reportedly raised concerns about a series of transactions involving Trump-related accounts, although senior executives allegedly chose not to act on those warnings. Deutsche Bank denied those reports at the time.

By fLEXI tEAM