JPMorgan Chase CEO says Trump's lawsuit has no merit but admits 'I'd be angry too' on being debanked
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon remains defiant against President Donald Trump's multibillion-dollar lawsuit but concedes he's sympathetic to Trump's grievance with the bank.
During a Monday appearance on CNBC, Dimon was asked about the ongoing legal battle.
"I don't like debanking," Dimon said. "And we debank people because of legal and regulatory risks for us."
TRUMP SUES JPMORGAN CHASE AND CEO JAMIE DIMON FOR $5B OVER ALLEGED ‘POLITICAL’ DEBANKING
"We don't do it generally for political or religious reasons — for other reasons," he continued. "You don't make a lot of money in bank accounts, so it's much easier for banks to say, 'I'm not taking the risk, let them go bank elsewhere.'"
After insisting the government "knows much more than we know," Dimon acknowledged he's "sympathetic" towards Trump.
"I respect the president’s right to sue the company. You know, we respect our right to defend ourselves. That’s why you have courts," Dimon said. "This case has no merit. It’s going to have, you know, years of discovery type of thing. And, you know, we’ll see what happens. But I agree with him. They have the right to be angry. I’d be angry too. Like, why is a bank allowed to do that? You know, but they’re forced to do it. You know, remember Operation Choke Point and, you know, and the punishment that banks go through when they, you know, miss something or, you know, coulda, woulda, shoulda. It’s all in hindsight, you know?"
A spokesperson for Trump's legal team told Fox News Digital, "By their own admission, JPMorgan Chase, at the direction of CEO Jamie Dimon, unlawfully debanked and blacklisted President Trump, his family and several of his businesses, causing overwhelming financial and reputational harm. The defendants committed these tortious acts only because of the President’s America First policies, which have saved our Nation. President Trump is standing up for all those wrongly debanked by JPMorgan Chase and their cohorts, and will see this case to a just and proper conclusion."
In January, Trump filed a whopping $5 billion lawsuit accusing JPMorgan Chase of debanking him for political reasons in 2021.
Trump’s lawyer said Feb. 19, 2021, was the day that "forever altered the dynamic of the parties’ relationship," when the bank, allegedly "without warning or provocation," notified Trump and his entities that several bank accounts they controlled, were beneficiaries of, and actively used to transact "would be closed just two months later, on April 19, 2021."
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Trump had been a customer of JPMorgan for decades, and he and his affiliated entities "have transacted hundreds of millions of dollars" through JPMorgan Chase, according to the lawsuit. The president accused JPMorgan Chase of debanking him in response to the events of Jan. 6.
JPMorgan Chase confirmed in a court filing last month that accounts associated with Trump and his companies were closed in Feb. 2021.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.