Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to sue JPMorgan Chase, citing an unsubstantiated allegation that big banks discriminated against him after the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.
Trump announced the possible lawsuit in a social media post, linking the threat to his criticism of a recent Wall Street Journal article that reported that he had offered JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon the position of chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Trump insists the report is inaccurate and says no such offer was ever made.
The president also reiterated his claim that JPMorgan Chase — the largest U.S. bank — improperly cut off its banking access after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, without providing evidence. He has also failed to provide evidence for his oft-repeated false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him.
“I will be suing JPMorgan Chase over the next two weeks for improperly and inappropriately DEBANCING me after the January 6 protest, a protest that proved correct to those who protested – the election was rigged! » he wrote.
Trump alleged that several banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, refused to accept his deposits following the events of January 6, 2021. Both institutions strongly rejected these accusations.
In a statement, Dimon clarified that “there was no job offer” and said he believed things were now being handled “better than I could have done.”
In a separate statement, Trish Wexler, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase, said: “Serving more than 80 million Americans is our privilege, and we agree that no one’s account should ever be terminated because of their political or religious beliefs. We appreciate that this administration has decided to address the issue of political unbanking and we support these efforts.”
Last week, Dimon told reporters that Trump’s attacks on U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell endangered the central bank’s independence and could backfire and ultimately drive up interest rates and inflation.
Trump responded by defending his campaign against Powell, saying: “I think what I’m doing is right. And we have a bad person at the Fed.”
Asked about Dimon’s comments, who warned against undermining the Fed’s independence, Trump said this week: “I think he’s wrong. We should have lower (interest) rates. Jamie Dimon probably wants higher rates, maybe he makes more money that way.”
Trump and his administration have come under fire in recent days for their attacks on Powell, who is the subject of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for alleged “abuse of taxpayer dollars” related to renovations to the central bank’s headquarters in Washington.
Powell claimed the Fed was being targeted because it was not agreeing to Trump’s demands for lower interest rates. The president said he was unaware of the investigation until it was revealed last weekend.
Trump also launched new attacks on the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, saying the paper “should do better fact-checking or its already strained credibility will continue to plummet.”
Last year, Trump filed a lawsuit seeking $10 billion in damages against Rupert Murdoch, the Journal’s owner, and two Journal journalists for defamation and slander over allegations that he sent sex offender Jeffrey Epstein an obscene letter and a sketch of a nude woman.
