Capital One says Trump Organization bank accounts closed after money laundering probe
President Donald Trump listens to questions from reporters during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, the presidential retreat, on July 31, 2026 in Camp David, Maryland. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Capital One says it closed hundreds of bank accounts tied to the Trump Organization in 2021 following an "anti-money laundering" probe, not for political reasons as alleged by President Donald Trump and his sons.
According to Reuters, the disclosure was made Friday in a court filing, as Capital One seeks to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of "debanking" the Trump Organization over "woke" beliefs after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump Organization’s anti-money laundering probe
The backstory:
In March 2021, Capital One notified the Trump Organization that it was closing more than 300 bank accounts tied to Trump, his family and his businesses. Four years later, after Trump took office for a second term, the Trump Organization and Eric Trump sued Capital One for closing the accounts. They alleged Capital One closed the accounts because of the political mood and deliberately targeted the Trump family.
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A federal judge has tossed two complaints in the Capital One case, but gave the Trump Organization time to file an amended complaint, which it did in July.
Dig deeper:
Capital One has long denied the accusations, but the bank had never publicly stated why it closed the accounts before Friday’s court filing.
What they're saying:
"Capital One never publicized the termination decision nor its confidential internal process giving rise to the closure, and it permitted plaintiffs several months (and granted several extensions) to find new banking services, which they did," the filing states.
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The new filing also says "documents and Plaintiffs’ own allegations make clear that Capital One closed Plaintiffs’ accounts for anti-money laundering (AML) reasons," Reuters reports.
"The closures were the result of months of analysis and a careful review by Capital One’s AML team in accordance with bank policies and regulatory guidance."
What we don't know:
Capital One didn’t give specifics on the probe or what it found, but it did call the Trump Organization’s lawsuit "misguided."
"The transaction patterns identified by Capital One are among the types of activity flagged by federal banking guidance," the filing said.
Other banks sued by Trump Organization
Big picture view:
Trump and his business interests have also filed lawsuits against Chase and other major banks, accusing them of similar "debanking" practices after Chase closed Trump’s accounts in 2021.
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In 2019, during his first term, Trump sued Capital One and Deutsche Bank in an attempt to prevent them from sharing financial records with Democrats in Congress. According to Reuters, Trump’s Deutsche Bank accounts had also been flagged by anti-money laundering investigators, but executives ignored the warning. Deutsche denied those reports at the time.
In August 2025, Trump signed an executive order banning discriminatory debanking, while his administration has called out other large banks for targeting conservatives.
The Source: This article includes information from Reuters.