President Donald Trump, appearing in a virtual session at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, January 23, unexpectedly aimed a critical critique at Brian Moynihan, the chief executive of Bank of America. Here, he pointed out that it was limiting services to conservative clients, something for which Moynihan seemed unaware.
“I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives,” Trump said to Moynihan, adding, “What you are doing is wrong.” The comment, made during a Q&A session, stunned the audience and prompted an awkward response from Moynihan. He quickly shifted the topic to thank Trump for his role in bringing the FIFA World Cup to the US, an event his bank is sponsoring.
Responding to the allegations by the president, a spokesperson for Bank of America stated, “We serve more than 70 million clients and welcome conservatives. We never close accounts for political reasons and don’t have a political litmus test.” The spokesperson further clarified that the decision to exit client relationships is made based on the number of government regulations and not based on political beliefs.
NEW: Trump calls out Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan to his face, says banks should stop debanking conservatives during a virtual appearance at the World Economic Forum.
Lmao. Amazing.
The panel was clearly uncomfortable after Trump made the comment.
“I hope you start… pic.twitter.com/PZgH6LuDVQ
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 23, 2025
Trump also aimed similar criticism at Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., accusing the bank of treating conservative clients unfairly. JPMorgan, however, denied the claims, emphasizing that they adhere to legal and regulatory requirements and do not close accounts for political reasons.
The debate over lending practices has heated up since the policies by major banks such as Bank of America, which recently restricted its lending to companies selling assault-style guns. It later relaxed some of its policies, including lifting some restrictions on financing Arctic drilling.
Issues concerning “debanking” of people on account of political or religious grounds are contentious internationally. Similar debates on the UK concern the closure of accounts for political reasons.
