President Biden’s administration reportedly pressured major US banks to cut financial ties with Trump
The New York Post reported that the Biden administration pressured major US banks to sever ties with former President Donald Trump, citing anonymous sources. The report claims that the pressure was in response to Trump’s role in the January 6 Capitol riot, where he claimed the election had been stolen from him. Banks reportedly faced regulatory pressure to avoid working with Trump, with some claiming that regulators made it clear they shouldn’t engage with him.
Speaking to CNBC earlier this week, Trump said that JPMorgan had told him he had to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, and that Bank of America declined to accept the funds when he attempted to transfer them. Trump did not elaborate on the timing or circumstances, but the Post, citing anonymous sources, has reported that the events possibly occurred after he left office in 2021.
According to the outlet, the banks were pressured by the White House in response to Trump’s role in the January 6 Capitol riot, which occurred on the day Congress was set to certify Biden’s victory. At the time, Trump insisted that the election had been “stolen” from him by the Democrats.
One unnamed banking executive told the newspaper, “Think back to what it was like being Trump back in 2021; he was a hot potato after January 6 and the regulators made it clear to us that we shouldn’t do business with him,” while a JPMorgan official said that regulators “put the fear of God in you if you did business” with people like Trump.
According to the report, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the country’s Federal Reserve scrutinized financial institutions under rules requiring them to weigh reputational risks tied to their clients. Critics have previously accused US banks of discriminating against conservatives and cryptocurrency-linked businesses under those guidelines.
The Wall Street Journal also reported this week that the Trump administration had prepared a draft executive order aimed at penalizing banks that engage in such “de-banking” practices. The order could be signed by the president as soon as this week, the paper said.