Capital One Financial pushed back on Friday against a lawsuit challenging its decision to close Trump Organization bank accounts, saying the closures followed a months-long review by the bank’s anti-money laundering team.
The filing is the first time a bank has officially connected money-laundering concerns to the family business of U.S. President Donald Trump, according to the source report.
Capital One argued that its AML unit shut the accounts in line with banking policies and regulatory guidelines, after months of analysis and careful scrutiny. The bank has not accused the Trump Organization of committing illegal money laundering.
What the bank’s filing says
Capital One’s Friday submission to the court stated that documents and the plaintiffs’ own claims make clear that its AML division closed the accounts for reasons related to combating money laundering. The filing added that the transaction patterns Capital One identified fall into categories of activity flagged by federal banking guidelines.
The bank also called the Trump Organization’s allegations of political motivation misleading and said they were based on selective excerpts of statements that do not reflect the full context of documents submitted to the court.
Capital One is asking the court to dismiss the case, disputing claims that it engaged in illegal debanking, defined as refusing services on religious or political grounds.
Background to the lawsuit
Capital One notified the Trump group in March 2021 that it planned to close more than 300 bank accounts connected to the organization. The Trump Organization and Eric Trump, the president’s son, filed suit in March 2025 in a federal court in Florida. They argued the accounts were closed because of Capital One’s woke attitudes and the bank’s desire to benefit from the political climate following the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot.
The federal court in Miami has dismissed two earlier versions of the lawsuit but each time allowed the plaintiffs to file amended complaints. Capital One said the latest version, filed in July, suffers from the same fundamental flaws as the two previous ones.
Broader political context
Since the start of Trump’s second term, his administration has pressured some large banks, echoing conservative complaints that financial institutions deliberately target the political right.
Reporting based on information from Reuters.
