Former first lady Melania Trump explained in her memoir Melania that she was heartbroken after an institution she banked with for a long time suddenly refused to do business with her family, Florida's Voice News reported. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis shared that this practice is about to be examined.
So-called "debanking," where a bank refuses services to customers on ideological grounds, is becoming a common practice. These institutions are squeezing out clients based on religion, gun ownership, and other views.
The Trump family was famously subject to this, as Melania Trump noted. "I was shocked and dismayed to learn that my longtime bank decided to terminate my account and deny my son the opportunity to open a new one," the former and soon-to-be first lady said.
Now that President-elect Donald Trump is returning to the White House next year, many anticipate renewed scrutiny. Indeed, Patronis vowed to "open up the hood" on these banks.
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, Patronis signaled a possible investigation into this brazen discrimination. "I cannot wait to open up the hood on how these federal agencies worked with lending institutions to de-bank Americans," Patronis wrote.
"The unelected bureaucrats who targeted gun owners, Christians, and Trump supporters are going to have a day of reckoning," he added. The problem for the Trump family began shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The Hill reported weeks after the event that several financial institutions cut ties with Donald Trump and his businesses. Florida's Banks United, where Donald Trump held anywhere between $5.1 million and $25.2 million in money market accounts, declined his business.
"We no longer have any depository relationship with him," the institution flatly reported without giving a reason. Professional Bank, another Sunshine State institution, followed suit.
In New York, Signature Bank and Deutsche Bank decided to no longer do business with Donald Trump. The former went so far as to also call on him to resign his then-presidency while the latter was looking to dump $300 million in his loans.
This kind of treatment is not just a problem for the Trup family. It has been cropping up across the financial services industry, including Bank of America, which has garnered a reputation for such actions.
In April, 15 state financial officers from 13 states sent a letter to CEO Brian Moynihan about the company's selective cancellation of accounts based on ideology, Fox News reported. Some of those targeted included Indigenous Advance Ministries, a Christian anti-trafficking organization, and Timothy Two Project International, which trains Christian pastors.
"Americans should never have to worry that their personal financial decisions will be weaponized against them. This practice has become all too common, and banks must urgently course correct to uphold their fiduciary duty and safeguard the constitutional freedoms of Americans," Kentucky State Auditor Allison Ball, one of the signors, said in a statement.
The letter claimed that "systemic drivers of religious and political bias may be at work within the company as a whole." Bank of America has pushed back on that claim, but it is just one of several institutions that seem to be quietly doing the same thing.
It's unconscionable for these banks to deny services based on religion or political viewpoint. It seems Patronis and others are about to shed some light on these shady practices, and it's about time.
