What the fuck???

Trump to crack down on banks over alleged political bias

An executive order will direct the government to take action to prevent banks from cutting off customers for political reasons.

By Michael Stratford

President Donald Trump on Thursday is poised to direct federal regulators to punish banks that illegally discriminate against conservatives with fines and other penalties, escalating his administration’s campaign against “debanking,” the White House said.

The executive order will direct the Treasury Department and federal banking regulators to take action to prevent banks from cutting off customers for political reasons. Many of the policy changes build on efforts that are already underway by Trump-appointed regulators at the banking agencies.

But the order also, for the first time, directs regulators to retroactively review whether financial institutions have in the past illegally closed accounts for political or religious reasons. The scope of that review wasn’t immediately clear from a White House fact sheet previewing the order, which said that banks could face fines, consent orders, or referral to the Justice Department.

Trump is set to sign executive orders at 12 p.m., according to his official schedule.

The executive order comes after Trump earlier this week accused JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America of rejecting more than $1 billion of his deposits, claiming he was targeted by those large banks for political reasons. And earlier this year, the Trump Organization sued Capital One, accusing the bank of improperly cutting off access to the president’s family business in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. The bank denies those allegations.

“The banks discriminated against me very badly,” he said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday. Trump also alleged, without evidence, that the Biden administration instructed regulators to “do everything you can to destroy Trump.”

Conservatives have long accused big Wall Street banks of blacklisting certain religious organizations and right-leaning industries like fossil fuels and firearms. And more recently the crypto industry has complained that increased scrutiny from Biden-era regulators pressured banks into severing ties with digital asset firms or investors.

Trump’s order will also task Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent with developing a comprehensive strategy to combat politically motivated account closures, including recommendations for potential regulatory or legislative changes. It also directs the Small Business Administration to require financial institutions participating in its lending programs to make “reasonable efforts to reinstate clients and potential clients previously denied services due to unlawful debanking,” according to a White House fact sheet.

The executive order also directs banking regulators to take a range of other steps aimed at addressing debanking. That includes some actions that regulators have already taken in the first months of the Trump administration, such as dropping “reputational risk” as a factor that regulators consider in their evaluation of financial institutions. Republicans argue that banks have unfairly cut off customers or industries based on the associated reputational risk of doing business with them.

The banking industry broadly has repeatedly denied it closes accounts for political reasons. But industry officials acknowledge that regulatory policies aimed at preventing illicit financial transactions and managing reputation risk can result in customers being cut off without explanation.

Industry groups and bank CEOs have welcomed the Trump administration’s efforts to change regulations and policies to address debanking.