Oct. 14 (UPI) – A U.S. Treasury Department office issued a report Wednesday that accuses the largest banks in the United States of letting customers’ “political or religious beliefs or lawful business activities” influence decisions about who can receive banking services.
The report is the latest step in President Donald Trump’s ongoing push accusing banks of allegedly discriminating against conservatives.
Trump himself has said he was “debanked” – a word describing when a bank or other financial institution suddenly closes someone’s account or stops lending to them because of legal, financial or reputation risks – after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The new report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, part of the Treasury Department, said that it found all nine of the major U.S. national banks – JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank and BMO Bank – had or have such policies. This applies to the time from 2020 to September 2025.
Major Banks Uninterested In Funding Certain Activities isn’t news. So why this report?
Trump has sued Capital One and accused it of debanking after the bank closed the Trump Organization’s accounts. The bank said in August that it closed the accounts because of concerns over money laundering. The president also sued JPMorgan Chase, alleging that it debanked him after the insurrection.
TL;DR: Old man yells at clouds for the fifth year in a row.
It’s possible that banks did engage in this behavior. If they did, it had nothing to do with him.
I’m curious what making enemies of all the major banks is supposed to accomplish, though. If this were just a matter of tightening regulations without assigning blame, that’d be one thing, but this is the opposite. I guess what we can take from the last decade is that it doesn’t matter how much shit you talk to people if you have a lot of money.
