Capital One has requested that a federal judge permanently dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Trump Organization regarding the closure of approximately 385 bank accounts in 2021. The bank stated in legal filings on Friday that the closures were the result of a monthslong internal review by its anti-money laundering team. This response counters allegations from the Trump family businesses that the account terminations were political retaliation following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The legal dispute involves accounts held by the Trump Organization, Eric Trump, and various affiliated entities, including a winery and a golf course developer. These entities had banked with Capital One for more than a decade before the accounts were shuttered. In an amended complaint filed in July, the Trump-affiliated companies argued that the bank's money-laundering rationale was a cover story created to distance the institution from Donald Trump.
Capital One's lawyers stated that the decision followed a careful analysis by a financial-crimes team composed of employees with law enforcement experience. The bank maintained that its contract allowed it to close accounts at any time for any reason without notice. Furthermore, the bank argued that federal banking-secrecy laws prohibited it from disclosing internal anti-money-laundering findings to the customers at the time of the closure.
For business owners and individual account holders, the case highlights the legal standard that banks are generally not required to explain account closures, particularly when internal compliance reviews are involved. The Trump Organization has claimed these actions were discriminatory, while the bank asserts it followed standard regulatory procedures under the Bank Secrecy Act. If the court dismisses the case, it sets a precedent that internal bank reviews for financial crimes are shielded from disclosure and legal challenge, even when they result in the sudden loss of banking services for a large enterprise.
This litigation is part of a broader series of legal actions by Trump-aligned entities against major financial institutions, including a $5 billion lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase filed in January. These developments occur as the executive branch has taken interest in banking practices; an executive order signed in August 2025 directed regulators to investigate politically motivated account closures. The presiding judge, Roy Altman, previously dismissed an earlier version of this lawsuit in March. A final decision on this motion to dismiss will determine if the case proceeds to discovery or is permanently closed.