Capital One Cites Anti-Money Laundering Concerns for Closing Trump Organization Accounts

Capital One Financial has revealed in a court filing that its decision to close the Trump Organization's bank accounts was the result of a review by its anti-money laundering experts. The bank's statement, part of a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from the former president's family business, marks the first time a financial institution has formally linked AML concerns to the company.

AML Review Cited in Filing

In a filing submitted Friday in a Florida federal court, Capital One argued that its actions were based on legitimate financial oversight. The bank stated that its decision to close more than 300 Trump-affiliated accounts in March 2021 followed "months of analysis and a careful review by Capital One’s AML team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance."

Capital One has not accused the Trump Organization of illegal activity. However, the filing asserts that the account closures were for anti-money laundering (“AML”) reasons and that "the transaction patterns identified by Capital One are among the types of activity flagged by federal banking guidance."

Lawsuit Alleges Political Bias

The Trump Organization and Eric Trump filed a lawsuit in March 2025, alleging that Capital One engaged in illegal "debanking" by terminating their accounts for political reasons. The suit claims the bank's decision was influenced by its "woke" beliefs and the political environment following the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

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A federal court in Miami has dismissed two previous versions of the complaint, though it has allowed the plaintiffs to submit amended filings. In its latest motion, Capital One called the allegations of political motivation "misguided" and "based on cherry-picked quotations unsupported by the full context."

Broader Context of 'Debanking'

The legal dispute is unfolding amid heightened scrutiny of how financial institutions manage accounts for politically exposed persons and entities. The Trump administration has increasingly pressured large banks over what it terms discriminatory debanking against conservatives, culminating in an executive order signed in August 2025 to bar the practice.

This is not the first such legal challenge from the former president. In January, a suit was filed against JPMorgan Chase on similar grounds. During his first term in 2019, Trump also sued Capital One and Deutsche Bank to prevent them from complying with congressional subpoenas for financial records.