Trump family business sues Capital One for closing accounts in 2021

Just after Capital One escaped a federal watchdog lawsuit that was suddenly dropped last month, it’s back in legal hot water, this time courtesy of President Donald Trump’s family business.

On March 7, multiple entities connected with the Trump Organization sued the McLean-based bank for terminating more than 300 Trump Organization bank accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The complaint, which was filed in a Miami-Dade County, Florida, circuit court by the business’ entities and Eric Trump, executive vice president of development and acquisitions for the Trump Organization, claims that Capital One’s decision to close “hundreds of bank accounts” controlled by the business “came about as a result of political and social motivations and Capital One’s unsubstantiated, ‘woke’ beliefs that it needed to distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political views. In essence, Capital One ‘de-banked’ plaintiffs’ accounts because Capital One believed that the political tide at the moment favored doing so.”

The lawsuit claims that the Trump Organization received correspondence from Capital One on March 8, 2021, that “hundreds of their bank accounts were being closed and their account relationships with Capital One would be terminated by June 7, 2021,” without prior warning. Although Capital One extended the closure of some accounts, the complaint alleges that the bank’s decision caused the business and affiliated entities “to suffer considerable financial harm.” The lawsuit also says that Capital One “failed to provide a reason for terminating plaintiffs’ accounts, [but] plaintiffs have learned that they were de-banked because of President Trump’s political views.”

Capital One said in a statement Monday that it “has not and does not close customer accounts for political reasons.”

The Trump Organization further argues in the suit that the closing of its bank accounts is “representative of a systemic and widespread practice” in the banking industry in which customers are de-banked for their political views. Although the lawsuit cites an opinion from Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares from April 2024 in which he claimed that Bank of America was de-banking conservatives, it also cites Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s comments about de-banking’s impact on consumers and businesses — in which the Massachusetts senator said President Trump “was on to a real problem when he criticized Bank of America for its de-banking practices” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Trump lawsuit demands a jury trial and “all available damages” under North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey and Minnesota laws.

Meanwhile, this legal action comes at a sensitive time for Capital One, as its parent company, Capital One Financial, awaits federal approval of its $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services. Although the merger’s completion was expected to occur in February following approval of both companies’ shareholders, Discover said in a Feb. 12 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that its new deadline was extended to May 19.

“Our announced deal with Discover Financial complies with the Bank Merger Act’s legal requirements, and we remain well-positioned to gain approval,” a Capital One spokesperson said in a statement Monday.

Capital One did benefit from the change in administrations, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under Trump, recently dropped a federal lawsuit against the bank and its parent claiming that the companies cheated millions of customers out of more than $2 billion in interest payments. In the final days of the Biden administration, the CFPB sued Capital One, but in the first days of Trump’s second term, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra was fired, and its acting director, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, shuttered the agency’s headquarters.