I wrote last week of Big Business’ sudden new affinity for re-President Donald Trump. And warned against believing any of it. I highlighted as examples two Big Biz leaders: Big Investment (JPMorgan Chase) CEO Jamie Dimon and Big Tech (Meta) CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
I would be remiss if I didn’t now examine the Big Banks’ sudden new respect for President Trump. Given the Big Banks’ domination of so large a swath of our economy. This is from less than two weeks ago:
“Big Bank CEOs can't wait for Trump….The banking industry has shown that it’s eager to usher in a new era under President-elect Donald Trump….In the words of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon, bankers - regardless of who they voted for - were ‘dancing in the street’ following Trump’s election victory in November.”
I remain highly dubious. In no small part because: There’s that Jamie Dimon and his JPMorgan Chase again. Speaking of whom and which: President Trump just publically admonished two Big Banks for their many-years-practice of de-banking conservatives: Bank of America (BoA)…and JPMorgan Chase.
President Trump’s admonishments didn’t just fall out of the sky. In May 2023, 19 Republican states accused Chase Bank “of closing bank accounts and discriminating against customers due to their religious or political beliefs.” In May 2024, Chase Bank rolled back one of its (many) de-banking policies. The roll back quite obviously serves as an admission of guilt. You can’t undo what you’re not doing.
In response to President Trump’s admonition, is Chase Bank rolling back the rest of their de-banking policies? Heavens no. They’re ramping up their lobbying efforts. Because why do the right thing? When you can lobby to make the wrong thing legal.
And what of BoA? In April 2024, 15 states’ attorneys general “sent a letter to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan…accusing the lender of ‘de-banking’ certain individuals for their religious or political identities.” In response to President Trump, is BoA rolling back their de-banking policies? Heavens no. They too are instead ramping up their lobbying efforts.
On Sunday, Republican Congressman James Comer said he has evidence of widespread Big Bank de-banking: “We are not talking about de-banking meaning they denied a loan. That happens every day in the banking world. This is just opening up savings accounts and checking accounts. This is unheard of to do this, and it is against the law.”
The Big Banks’ de-banking is way more expansive than even that. And goes back WAY farther than most people realize. In December 2024, not-Leftist tech entrepreneur Marc Andreesen was on Joe Rogan’s podcast. During which he described the LONG march of the Big Banks - in conjunction with Big Government - to de-bank their political enemies:
“This started about fifteen years ago with Operation Choke Point….As marijuana became legal, as prostitution became legal, then guns - which there’s always a fight about - under the (Barack) Obama Administration they started to de-bank legal marijuana businesses, escort businesses and then gun shops. Like your gun manufacturers - you’re done, you’re out of the banking system.…
“You’re doing your business all in cash. You can’t get a bank account, you can’t get a Visa terminal, you can’t process transactions. You can’t do payroll, you can’t do direct deposit. You can’t get insurance….
“And then this (Joe Biden) administration extended that concept to apply it to tech founders, crypto founders, and then just generally political opponents….So it was Operation Choke Point 1.0 fifteen years ago…Choke Point 2.0 is against their political enemies and their disfavored tech startups….
“We’ve had thirty (tech) founders de-banked in the last four years. It’s been a big recurring pattern….Through a completely unaccountable process. None of this is written down. There’s no rules. There’s no court. There’s no decision process. There’s no appeal. Who do you appeal to? Who do you go to to get your bank account back?…
“This is one of the reasons why we ended up supporting Trump. We can’t live in this world. We can’t live in a world where someone starts a company that’s a completely legal thing and then they literally get sanctioned and embargoed by the United States government.”
My, this Big Gov-Big Bank de-banking collusion sounds an awful lot like the Big Gov-Big Tech censorship collusion.
And helps further demonstrate who amongst President Trump’s news buddies can be trusted and who can not.
If it’s an Andreesen-type looking to start and grow a new company? Trump can trust him or her.
If it’s a Dimon-Zuckerberg Big Biz monster looking to protect his or her monstrous crony turf? Trump cannot trust him or her. At all.
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