From donor to defendant: JPMorgan backs Trump, then gets a $5 billion lawsuit

In Washington, gratitude has a short shelf life. Weeks after JPMorgan Chase contributed millions to a pro-Trump PAC, President Donald Trump repaid the gesture by filing a $5 billion lawsuit against the bank and its CEO, Jamie Dimon.

Recall, Jan. 6, 2026. The Street reported that the Jamie Dimon-led investment bank, along with crypto exchanges Gemini Trust Company and Crypto.com parent Foris Dax, infused millions of dollars into a pro-Trump PAC ahead of the Nov. 3, 2026, U.S. midterm elections — even though Trump is not on the ballot.

The contributions underscore the crypto industry’s growing political influence and Trump’s sharp pivot from digital-asset skeptic to crypto booster in his second term.

But on Thursday, Jan. 22, Trump filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade County state court alleging that JPMorgan Chase and Dimon improperly severed a decades-long banking relationship following the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot and Trump’s departure from the White House, arguing the move was driven by partisan views rather than financial or regulatory risk.

Trump vs. Dimon

Trump, like Dimon, once dismissed bitcoin as a “scam.” The president now accepts campaign donations in digital assets, praises U.S. crypto miners, and has signaled support for clearer regulation, including backing legislation such as the GENIUS Act.

Dimon has also, seemingly, softened his anti-crypto stance in the months following the 2024 election cycle.

After all, Trump’s warm embrace of the crypto industry marked a turning point in political spending by the digital-asset sector, with firms increasingly aligning themselves with candidates seen as friendlier to crypto.

Big banks responded in kind. JPMorgan, for example, moved its digital dollar, the JPM Coin, onto a public blockchain. The firm also launched a new tokenized money market fund on Ethereum with $100 million in internal capital, targeting institutional treasury clients.​

JPMorgan rejected the lawsuit’s claims. In a statement, the bank said it believes the case has no merit and denied closing accounts for political or religious reasons.

Davos

The legal clash follows fresh public friction between Trump and Dimon at the World Economic Forum in Davos. On Wednesday, Dimon criticized Trump’s proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10%, calling it an “economic disaster” that would remove credit access for roughly 80% of Americans.

Dimon also warned that the U.S. had become a “less reliable” economic partner under Trump’s leadership.

Still, the timing has raised eyebrows: a multibillion-dollar PAC donation on one side, a multibillion-dollar lawsuit on the other.

In modern American politics, it seems even financial support doesn’t guarantee friendly terms — especially when the donor is Dimon and the recipient is Trump.