In a surprising critique, Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, dismissed allegations from Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media, that his bank had severed ties with Donald Trump’s media company. During a Fox News interview, Dimon, a prominent figure in the banking industry, encouraged critics to cease fabricating stories. The conversation with host Maria Bartiromo centered on Nunes’s assertion that JPMorgan Chase handed over Trump Media’s financial data to the Biden administration and closed the company’s accounts due to governmental pressure.

Devin Nunes, formerly a congressman and now leading Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, previously accused JPMorgan of discreetly aiding federal investigations into the attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. In a segment aired on November 9, Bartiromo presented Dimon with Nunes’s bold allegations. Nunes questioned, “Why would they target us? Jamie Dimon and others at JPMorgan frequently deny debanking for political reasons. So, why did you debank Trump Media?”

Dimon vehemently denied these accusations, labeling them as entirely unfounded. He dismissed the notion that his bank had singled out Trump’s media enterprise. “People need to mature and stop fabricating such stories,” Dimon asserted. When confronted about whether Chase had indeed “debanked” Trump Media, he clarified that the bank operates strictly within legal frameworks, devoid of political bias. “I can’t discuss specific accounts,” he explained. “We do not debank individuals based on their religious or political beliefs.”

Dimon went further, stressing that Chase customers across the political and religious spectrum have been removed from the bank’s rolls over time, but never because of their beliefs. ‘We debank people who are Democrats. We debank people who are Republicans. We have debanked different religious folks. Never was that for that reason.’ He said the bank sometimes closes accounts due to fraud, unpaid fees, suspicious activity, or compliance requirements, all typical triggers in the financial industry – but he insisted any political targeting is ‘categorically false.’

‘Debanking’ refers to when a financial institution closes a customer’s account or refuses to provide services, often citing risk, compliance issues, or account activity that violates internal rules or federal regulations. It does not inherently mean political retaliation, and banks are generally prohibited from taking adverse action based on a customer’s political ideology. Dimon made clear that federal law frequently obligates banks to hand over information during criminal or national security investigations regardless of which party occupies the White House. He even praised the Trump administration for previously attempting reforms. ‘I want to change these rules. I actually applaud the Trump administration, who’s trying to say that debanking is bad and we should change the rules. Well, damn it, I have been asking to change the rules now for 15 years. So change the rules.’

Nunes has insisted that Trump Media was swept up in a politically tainted federal inquiry that had nothing to do with the company’s operations. ‘We just became a public company in 2024, and we were nowhere around in 2021 on January 6th,’ Nunes told Fox News last month. ‘So why would Trump Media be subpoenaed at that time during this investigation? It doesn’t make any sense.’ He said the company only learned later that JPMorgan had been responding to federal subpoenas. ‘After discussing this with them for several months, going back and forth, it looked political at the time,’ Nunes said. ‘But now we know that they were under subpoenas that they didn’t tell us about as they were cooperating with the Biden Department of Justice.’

The Florida Attorney General has since opened an inquiry into whether JPMorgan improperly coordinated with the federal government, an allegation the bank vehemently denies. Dimon emphasized that JPMorgan cannot voluntarily send customer information to the government, and cannot refuse a lawful demand for records. ‘We don’t give information to the government just because they ask. We’re subpoenaed. We are required by court to give it to the government.’ He said such legal obligations have existed across administrations. ‘I have been following subpoenas with this administration, the last administration, the administration before that and the one before that,’ he added. ‘And I don’t agree with a lot of it.’

Dimon suggested that critics should focus on reforming federal reporting requirements rather than accusing banks of acting politically. ‘So, let’s just take a deep breath and fix the problems,’ he said, ‘as opposed to, like, blame someone who’s put in that position.’ He also urged viewers to stop pretending these issues belong to only one political party. ‘Democratic and Republican governments have come after us both. Let’s not act like this is just one side doing this.’