New York
Trump sues JPMorgan for $5 billion, alleges the bank closed his accounts for political reasons
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump sued banking giant JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon for $5 billion on Thursday over allegations that JPMorgan stopped providing banking services to him and his businesses for political reasons after he left office in January 2021.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade County court in Florida, alleges that JPMorgan abruptly closed multiple accounts in February 2021 with just 60 days notice and no explanation. By doing so, Trump claims JPMorgan and Dimon cut the president and his businesses off from millions of dollars, disrupted their operations and forced Trump and the businesses to urgently open bank accounts elsewhere.
“JPMC debanked (Trump and his businesses) because it believed that the political tide at the moment favored doing so,” the lawsuit alleges.
In the lawsuit, Trump alleges he tried to raise the issue personally with Dimon after the bank started to close his accounts, and that Dimon assured Trump he would figure out what was happening. The lawsuit alleges Dimon failed to follow up with Trump. Further, Trump’s lawyers allege that JPMorgan placed the president and his companies on a reputational “blacklist” that both JPMorgan and other banks use to keep clients from opening accounts with them in the future.
In a statement, JPMorgan said it believes the suit has no merit.
Trump threatened to sue JPMorgan Chase last week at a time of heightened tensions between the White House and Wall Street. The president said he wanted to cap interest rates on credit cards at 10% to help lower costs for consumers. Chase is one of the largest issuers of credit cards in the country and a bank official told reporters that it would fight any effort by the White House or Congress to implement a rate cap on credit cards. Bank industry executives have also bristled at Trump’s attacks on the independence of the Federal Reserve.
Debanking occurs when a bank closes the accounts of a customer or refuses to do business with a customer in the form of loans or other services. Once a relatively obscure issue in finance, debanking has become a politically charged issue in recent years, with conservative politicians arguing that banks have discriminated against them and their affiliated interests.
Debanking first became a national issue when conservatives accused the Obama administration of pressuring banks to stop extending services to gun stores and payday lenders under “Operation Choke Point.”
Trump and other conservative figures have alleged that banks cut them off from their accounts under the umbrella term of “reputational risk” after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Since Trump came back into office, the president’s banking regulators have moved to stop any banks from using “reputational risk” as a reason for denying service to customers.
“JPMC’s conduct ... is a key indicator of a systemic, subversive industry practice that aims to coerce the public to shift and re-align their political views,” Trumps lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
Trump accuses the bank of trade libel and accuses Dimon himself of violating Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
In its statement, JPMorgan said that it “regrets” that Trump sued the bank but insisted it did not close the accounts for political reasons.
“JPMC does not close accounts for political or religious reasons,” a bank spokesperson said. “We do close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company.”
This is not the first lawsuit Trump has filed against a big bank alleging that he was debanked. The Trump Organization sued credit card giant Capital One in March 2025 for similar reasons and allegations. That lawsuit is still winding its way through the court system.
Florida
Alex Palou ordered to pay McLaren Racing $12M in breach of contract suit
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Four-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou on Friday was ordered to pay McLaren Racing more than $12 million in the breach of contract suit the team filed when the Spaniard backed out of two different deals with the racing team.
The Friday ruling from London’s High Court came after a five-week trial last year. McLaren initially sought almost $30 million in damages, but that number was reduced to $20.7 million as the racing juggernaut sought to reclaim money allegedly lost in sponsorship, driver salaries and performance earnings.
“This is an entirely appropriate result for McLaren Racing. As the ruling shows, we clearly demonstrated that we fulfilled every single contractual obligation towards Alex and fully honored what had been agreed,” said McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown. “We thank the court for recognizing the very significant commercial impact and disruption our business suffered as a result of Alex’s breach of contract with the team.”
McLaren added it is still seeking interest and reimbursement of its legal expenses.
Palou was not ordered to pay anything related to Formula 1 losses McLaren said it suffered when Palou decided to remain with Chip Ganassi Racing rather than move to McLaren’s IndyCar team in 2024. All the damages awarded to McLaren were tied to losses the IndyCar team suffered by Palou’s change of mind.
“The court has dismissed in their entirety McLaren’s Formula 1 claims against me which once stood at almost $15 million,” Palou said in a statement. “The court’s decision shows the claims against me were completely overblown.
It’s disappointing that so much time and cost was spent fighting these claims, some of which the Court found had no value, simply because I chose not to drive for McLaren after I learned they wouldn’t be able to give me an F1 drive.
“I’m disappointed that any damages have been awarded to McLaren. They have not suffered any loss because of what they have gained from the driver who replaced me. I am considering my options with my advisors and have no further comments to make at this stage.”
Palou has won three consecutive IndyCar titles and the Indianapolis 500 since this saga began midway through the 2022 season. He has four IndyCar titles in the last five seasons. Palou and Brown are both at Daytona International Speedway for this weekend’s Rolex 24 sports car endurance race: the Meyer Shank Racing team Palou is driving for will start from the pole Saturday, while Brown is competing in a support race earlier in the day.
The bulk of the damages awarded to McLaren were tied to loss of sponsorship. Palou was ordered to pay $5.3 million to cover the losses in the team’s agreement with NTT Data, $2.5 million in “other IndyCar sponsorship revenue” and $2 million in performance-based revenue.
IndyCar team owner Chip Ganassi said Palou has his backing.
“Alex has our full support, now and always. We know the character of our driver and the strength of our team, and nothing changes that,” Ganassi said. “While we respect the legal process, our focus is exactly where it should be: on racing, on winning, and on doing what this organization has always done best, competing at the highest level.
“We’re locked in on chasing another championship and defending our 2025 Indianapolis 500 victory. That’s where our energy is, and that’s where Alex’s focus is, on the track, doing what he does best: winning.”
McLaren has won the last two constructor championships in F1 and Lando Norris last season won the driver championship.
Palou first signed with McLaren in 2022 to drive for its IndyCar team in 2023, but Ganassi pushed back and exercised an option on Palou for the 2023 season. The matter was decided through mediation, with McLaren covering Palou’s legal costs. Palou could not join McLaren until 2024 but was permitted to be the reserve and test driver for the F1 team in 2023.
When McLaren signed Oscar Piastri for its F1 team, and Palou’s performance with Ganassi in IndyCar was so dominant, the driver decided he did not want to move to McLaren’s IndyCar team and reneged on his contract.
Palou argued his contracts with McLaren were “based on lies,” and he’d never have a chance to race in F1. His counsel also accused Brown of destroying evidence by deleting WhatsApp messages related to the case.
McLaren contended it lost revenue when Palou backed out ahead of the 2024 season and the team had to scramble to find another driver. McLaren wanted Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who had already committed to Andretti Global, so it instead used four different drivers that season.
Because none were as accomplished as Palou, McLaren argued both NTT Data and General Motors reduced their payouts to the team because McLaren did not field a driver of the caliber it had promised.
Virginia
State’s new AG fights DOJ on in-state tuition for immigrant students
Days after taking office, Attorney General Jay Jones (D) is reversing his predecessor’s position on the Trump administration’s fight against in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.
On Wednesday, Jones filed a motion to withdraw from an agreement that former Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares made with the U.S. Department of Justice in a bid to invalidate the Virginia Dream Act of 2020.
The Justice Department challenged the Virginia law, which allows undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Dec. 29. A day later, Miyares joined the DOJ in seeking to have the court declare the law invalid and prevent it from being enforced.
“On day one, I promised Virginians I would fight back against the Trump Administration’s attacks on our Commonwealth, our institutions of higher education, and most importantly – our students,” Jones said in a statement.
“Virginians deserve leaders who will put them the first, and that’s exactly what my office will continue to do.”
The DOJ declined to comment to ARLnow on Jones’ action, citing the pending litigation.
The Virginia Dream Act of 2020 provides in-state tuition rates to higher education students meeting Virginia high school attendance requirements, regardless of their immigration status. The DOJ alleges that this discriminates against out-of-state U.S. citizens who cannot receive the same in-state tuition rates as undocumented immigrants living in Virginia.
“This is a simple matter of federal law: in Virginia and nationwide, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a news release announcing the litigation. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”
Several groups, including the Legal Aid Justice Center, ACLU of Virginia and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, filed motions to intervene in the lawsuit after the consent judgment.
“These are Virginia students who grew up in the Commonwealth, graduated from our high schools, contribute to our communities, and made life-altering decisions for their futures relying on a state law that has existed for years,” said Rohmah Javed, the director of the Immigrant Justice Program at the Legal Aid Justice Center. “They are Virginians in every way that matters, and they deserve someone to stand up and fight for them.”
The DOJ has pursued similar in-state tuition lawsuits in Texas, Kentucky, Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and California.
Trump sues JPMorgan for $5 billion, alleges the bank closed his accounts for political reasons
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump sued banking giant JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon for $5 billion on Thursday over allegations that JPMorgan stopped providing banking services to him and his businesses for political reasons after he left office in January 2021.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade County court in Florida, alleges that JPMorgan abruptly closed multiple accounts in February 2021 with just 60 days notice and no explanation. By doing so, Trump claims JPMorgan and Dimon cut the president and his businesses off from millions of dollars, disrupted their operations and forced Trump and the businesses to urgently open bank accounts elsewhere.
“JPMC debanked (Trump and his businesses) because it believed that the political tide at the moment favored doing so,” the lawsuit alleges.
In the lawsuit, Trump alleges he tried to raise the issue personally with Dimon after the bank started to close his accounts, and that Dimon assured Trump he would figure out what was happening. The lawsuit alleges Dimon failed to follow up with Trump. Further, Trump’s lawyers allege that JPMorgan placed the president and his companies on a reputational “blacklist” that both JPMorgan and other banks use to keep clients from opening accounts with them in the future.
In a statement, JPMorgan said it believes the suit has no merit.
Trump threatened to sue JPMorgan Chase last week at a time of heightened tensions between the White House and Wall Street. The president said he wanted to cap interest rates on credit cards at 10% to help lower costs for consumers. Chase is one of the largest issuers of credit cards in the country and a bank official told reporters that it would fight any effort by the White House or Congress to implement a rate cap on credit cards. Bank industry executives have also bristled at Trump’s attacks on the independence of the Federal Reserve.
Debanking occurs when a bank closes the accounts of a customer or refuses to do business with a customer in the form of loans or other services. Once a relatively obscure issue in finance, debanking has become a politically charged issue in recent years, with conservative politicians arguing that banks have discriminated against them and their affiliated interests.
Debanking first became a national issue when conservatives accused the Obama administration of pressuring banks to stop extending services to gun stores and payday lenders under “Operation Choke Point.”
Trump and other conservative figures have alleged that banks cut them off from their accounts under the umbrella term of “reputational risk” after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Since Trump came back into office, the president’s banking regulators have moved to stop any banks from using “reputational risk” as a reason for denying service to customers.
“JPMC’s conduct ... is a key indicator of a systemic, subversive industry practice that aims to coerce the public to shift and re-align their political views,” Trumps lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
Trump accuses the bank of trade libel and accuses Dimon himself of violating Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
In its statement, JPMorgan said that it “regrets” that Trump sued the bank but insisted it did not close the accounts for political reasons.
“JPMC does not close accounts for political or religious reasons,” a bank spokesperson said. “We do close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company.”
This is not the first lawsuit Trump has filed against a big bank alleging that he was debanked. The Trump Organization sued credit card giant Capital One in March 2025 for similar reasons and allegations. That lawsuit is still winding its way through the court system.
Florida
Alex Palou ordered to pay McLaren Racing $12M in breach of contract suit
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Four-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou on Friday was ordered to pay McLaren Racing more than $12 million in the breach of contract suit the team filed when the Spaniard backed out of two different deals with the racing team.
The Friday ruling from London’s High Court came after a five-week trial last year. McLaren initially sought almost $30 million in damages, but that number was reduced to $20.7 million as the racing juggernaut sought to reclaim money allegedly lost in sponsorship, driver salaries and performance earnings.
“This is an entirely appropriate result for McLaren Racing. As the ruling shows, we clearly demonstrated that we fulfilled every single contractual obligation towards Alex and fully honored what had been agreed,” said McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown. “We thank the court for recognizing the very significant commercial impact and disruption our business suffered as a result of Alex’s breach of contract with the team.”
McLaren added it is still seeking interest and reimbursement of its legal expenses.
Palou was not ordered to pay anything related to Formula 1 losses McLaren said it suffered when Palou decided to remain with Chip Ganassi Racing rather than move to McLaren’s IndyCar team in 2024. All the damages awarded to McLaren were tied to losses the IndyCar team suffered by Palou’s change of mind.
“The court has dismissed in their entirety McLaren’s Formula 1 claims against me which once stood at almost $15 million,” Palou said in a statement. “The court’s decision shows the claims against me were completely overblown.
It’s disappointing that so much time and cost was spent fighting these claims, some of which the Court found had no value, simply because I chose not to drive for McLaren after I learned they wouldn’t be able to give me an F1 drive.
“I’m disappointed that any damages have been awarded to McLaren. They have not suffered any loss because of what they have gained from the driver who replaced me. I am considering my options with my advisors and have no further comments to make at this stage.”
Palou has won three consecutive IndyCar titles and the Indianapolis 500 since this saga began midway through the 2022 season. He has four IndyCar titles in the last five seasons. Palou and Brown are both at Daytona International Speedway for this weekend’s Rolex 24 sports car endurance race: the Meyer Shank Racing team Palou is driving for will start from the pole Saturday, while Brown is competing in a support race earlier in the day.
The bulk of the damages awarded to McLaren were tied to loss of sponsorship. Palou was ordered to pay $5.3 million to cover the losses in the team’s agreement with NTT Data, $2.5 million in “other IndyCar sponsorship revenue” and $2 million in performance-based revenue.
IndyCar team owner Chip Ganassi said Palou has his backing.
“Alex has our full support, now and always. We know the character of our driver and the strength of our team, and nothing changes that,” Ganassi said. “While we respect the legal process, our focus is exactly where it should be: on racing, on winning, and on doing what this organization has always done best, competing at the highest level.
“We’re locked in on chasing another championship and defending our 2025 Indianapolis 500 victory. That’s where our energy is, and that’s where Alex’s focus is, on the track, doing what he does best: winning.”
McLaren has won the last two constructor championships in F1 and Lando Norris last season won the driver championship.
Palou first signed with McLaren in 2022 to drive for its IndyCar team in 2023, but Ganassi pushed back and exercised an option on Palou for the 2023 season. The matter was decided through mediation, with McLaren covering Palou’s legal costs. Palou could not join McLaren until 2024 but was permitted to be the reserve and test driver for the F1 team in 2023.
When McLaren signed Oscar Piastri for its F1 team, and Palou’s performance with Ganassi in IndyCar was so dominant, the driver decided he did not want to move to McLaren’s IndyCar team and reneged on his contract.
Palou argued his contracts with McLaren were “based on lies,” and he’d never have a chance to race in F1. His counsel also accused Brown of destroying evidence by deleting WhatsApp messages related to the case.
McLaren contended it lost revenue when Palou backed out ahead of the 2024 season and the team had to scramble to find another driver. McLaren wanted Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who had already committed to Andretti Global, so it instead used four different drivers that season.
Because none were as accomplished as Palou, McLaren argued both NTT Data and General Motors reduced their payouts to the team because McLaren did not field a driver of the caliber it had promised.
Virginia
State’s new AG fights DOJ on in-state tuition for immigrant students
Days after taking office, Attorney General Jay Jones (D) is reversing his predecessor’s position on the Trump administration’s fight against in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.
On Wednesday, Jones filed a motion to withdraw from an agreement that former Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares made with the U.S. Department of Justice in a bid to invalidate the Virginia Dream Act of 2020.
The Justice Department challenged the Virginia law, which allows undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Dec. 29. A day later, Miyares joined the DOJ in seeking to have the court declare the law invalid and prevent it from being enforced.
“On day one, I promised Virginians I would fight back against the Trump Administration’s attacks on our Commonwealth, our institutions of higher education, and most importantly – our students,” Jones said in a statement.
“Virginians deserve leaders who will put them the first, and that’s exactly what my office will continue to do.”
The DOJ declined to comment to ARLnow on Jones’ action, citing the pending litigation.
The Virginia Dream Act of 2020 provides in-state tuition rates to higher education students meeting Virginia high school attendance requirements, regardless of their immigration status. The DOJ alleges that this discriminates against out-of-state U.S. citizens who cannot receive the same in-state tuition rates as undocumented immigrants living in Virginia.
“This is a simple matter of federal law: in Virginia and nationwide, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a news release announcing the litigation. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”
Several groups, including the Legal Aid Justice Center, ACLU of Virginia and Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, filed motions to intervene in the lawsuit after the consent judgment.
“These are Virginia students who grew up in the Commonwealth, graduated from our high schools, contribute to our communities, and made life-altering decisions for their futures relying on a state law that has existed for years,” said Rohmah Javed, the director of the Immigrant Justice Program at the Legal Aid Justice Center. “They are Virginians in every way that matters, and they deserve someone to stand up and fight for them.”
The DOJ has pursued similar in-state tuition lawsuits in Texas, Kentucky, Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, and California.
