Capital One Financial has formally told a federal court that its decision to close bank accounts linked to the Trump Organization was driven by anti-money laundering (AML) concerns and followed a months-long internal review. The statement appears in court filings opposing a lawsuit alleging the closures were politically motivated.
The bank’s filing, made public on a Friday, frames the account shutdowns as the outcome of detailed analysis by its AML team. Capital One said it did not accuse the Trump Organization of illegal money laundering, but that "documents and Plaintiffs' own allegations make clear that Capital One closed Plaintiffs' accounts for anti-money laundering ("AML") reasons. 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."
Background of the dispute
Capital One notified the Trump Organization in March 2021 that it planned to close more than 300 accounts connected to entities associated with the former president's business. The Trump Organization and Eric Trump responded by filing suit in March 2025 in a Florida federal court, claiming the account closures reflected Capital One's purportedly "woke" stance and an effort to capitalize on the political environment following the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Capital One's legal position
In its most recent filing, Capital One asks the court to dismiss the case, arguing the plaintiffs' amended complaint repeats deficiencies identified in earlier versions. The Miami federal court previously dismissed two complaints but permitted the plaintiffs to file amended versions each time. Capital One said the July filing "suffers from the same fundamental flaws as their prior two pleadings."
The bank characterizes the Trump Organization's claim that the closures were a political pretext as "misguided" and contends those allegations are constructed from "cherry-picked quotations unsupported by the full context" of documents presented to the court. Capital One further argued that the transaction patterns its AML unit identified are among the types of activity that federal banking guidance specifically flags.
Wider legal and political context
The filings arrive against a backdrop in which the current administration has been pressing large banks, a dynamic the bank described in its papers. The complaint notes earlier and parallel litigation: in January the former president filed a suit against JPMorgan Chase alleging similar discriminatory debanking, and in 2019 he sued Capital One and Deutsche Bank seeking to block the sharing of financial records with Congress during a separate probe.
The filing also references reporting that anti-money laundering professionals at Deutsche Bank had flagged a set of transactions, which were reportedly not acted upon by executives; Deutsche Bank denied that report at the time.
Separately, the filing appears in a policy environment shaped by an executive order signed in August 2025 that bars discriminatory debanking, an action cited by the parties as part of the broader regulatory and political landscape in which these lawsuits are unfolding.
Takeaway
Capital One's court papers emphasize the bank's contention that its actions were compliance-driven, grounded in AML reviews and regulatory guidance, and not taken for political reasons. The dispute remains before the Miami federal court, which has required successive amended complaints from the plaintiffs.