President Donald Trump on Thursday accused the CEOs of America’s two biggest banks of refusing to cater to conservatives, reviving a 2024 campaign talking point that the two companies deny.
Speaking by video to an assembly held at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump lashed out Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as part of a question-and-answer session.
“I hope you start opening up your bank to conservatives, because a lot of conservatives are complaining that the banks aren’t letting them do business inside the bank, and that included a place called Bank of America,” Trump said.
“You and Jamie and everybody, I hope you’ll open your banks to conservatives, because what you’re doing is wrong,” Trump said.
Moynihan, who was among several executives selected to ask the president questions during the Q&A, did not immediately respond to the accusation.
Both banks deny refusing service to conservatives.
“We serve more than 70 million customers, welcome conservatives and have no political litmus test,” a Bank of America official said in an email.
“We have never closed and would never close an account for political reasons,” a JPMorgan spokeswoman said in a statement. “We follow the law and guidance from our regulators and have long said there are problems with the current framework that Washington needs to address.”
In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, caused in part by lax lending standards at big banks, US regulators stepped up pressure on lenders to purge customers in industries deemed at higher risk for money laundering or fraud. This meant that payday lenders, pawn shops, firearms dealers and those involved in pornography had their accounts revoked, often with little notice or explanation as to why.
As recently as October, Trump singled out Bank of America, repeating claims that it discriminates against conservatives.
The charges may have roots in claims by state attorneys general last year. In April, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sent a letter to Moynihan, accusing the bank of canceling the accounts of “multiple religious groups with mainstream views in the past three years.”
In a May letter in response to Kobach, Bank of America said the accounts were debanked for reasons including changing the stated purpose of the account, the expected level or type of activity on the account, or failure to verify certain documents required by the law. .
According to the bank’s response, an account highlighted by Kobach was de-banked because it engaged in debt collection services, which was inconsistent with the Bank of America division servicing the account.
“We would like to provide clarity about a very straightforward matter: religious beliefs or beliefs based on political views are never a factor in any decision related to our customer’s accounts,” the bank said in that letter. “Bank of America provides banking services to nonprofit organizations affiliated with faith-based communities throughout the United States. We have banking and investment relationships with approximately 120,000 faith-based customers in the United States.”
Influential people in Trump’s orbit have continued to claim that banks are discriminating on the basis of religion or politics.
In November, Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the venture capital firm that bears his name, told podcaster Joe Rogan that dozens of startup founders had been kicked out of the bank in recent years. Andreesen has said he advises Trump on technology issues.
Bank of America shares rose more than 1% on Thursday, with JPMorgan shares also higher.
The banking industry is seen as one of the biggest beneficiaries of Trump’s election, largely because of expectations that he would kill Biden-era regulatory efforts to force banks to hold tens of billions of dollars in extra capital against losses, incurring annual stress. tests less opaque and removes attempts to limit credit card and overdraft limits.