REPORT: Pro-Trump, Pro-Life Groups Targeted for “Debanking”

Selling “Make America Great Again” hats or saying abortion is murder could land companies on a banking blacklist, according to a shocking new report from the Department of the Treasury.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its eye-opening findings last month detailing all the ways that nine major banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo allegedly discriminated against conservative groups. Officials conducted the comprehensive study based on “nearly 100,000 complaints” and “420,000 pages” of evidence on each bank’s policies.

The detailed investigation builds on President Donald Trump’s August 7, 2025, executive order titled “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans,” which mandated an investigation into “debanking,” or the practice of denying financial services to individuals and groups based on their political views.

“Financial institutions have engaged in unacceptable practices to restrict law-abiding individuals’ and businesses’ access to financial services on the basis of political or religious beliefs or lawful business activities,” Trump warned in that order.

Conservatives have raised concerns about debanking for years, citing high-profile cases of individuals and groups having their accounts closed for no other apparent reason than their political or religious views, along with being denied loans for political reasons. People who are debanked can lose access to their money and have their credit cards frozen.

In 2020, for instance, Bank of America closed accounts associated with Christian ministry group Timothy Two Project International, saying that the organization was “operating a business type we have chosen not to service.” In 2021, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America also refused to accept deposits from President Donald Trump following the 2020 election.

Notably, in 2023, AMAC members sent more than 91,000 messages to JPMorgan Chase speaking out against debanking activity. That advocacy campaign was followed by major policy changes from the bank the following year.

The OCC report only reinforces how rampant debanking has become, even as the practice has fallen out of the headlines. In some cases, groups were outright denied equal access to credit and financial services; in other cases, they were bogged down with paperwork and “reputational risk” questions in a way that discouraged future business.

Chase Bank, through its payment processor WePay, allegedly flagged organizations that used “terms such as MAGA, Make America Great, and America First.” It also relied on the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to identify potential “hate groups.” The SPLC’s infamous watchlist includes numerous mainstream conservative organizations, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, Turning Point USA, and the Family Research Council.

Bank employees also allegedly closed accounts under vague “anti-hate” policies, which extended to innocuous companies such as “the account of a merchant that sold merchandise promoting President Trump and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) brand.” WePay closed this account in February 2021, using the January 6 Capitol riot as a pretext to target pro-Trump groups.

Other verboten activities that got accounts banned included criticizing Black Lives Matter, Anthony Fauci, and the LGBT agenda, according to the report.

Even non-political groups, such as health-sharing ministries that help families pay for medical care, were flagged for debanking or greater scrutiny. In one instance cited in the OCC report, “A line of credit to a faith-based health care sharing ministry was determined by TD to pose elevated reputation risk if the relationship was disclosed by the media or groups that reject their practices.”

Many health-sharing ministries require healthy behavior like monogamy while also asking members to refrain from excessive drinking or tobacco use. While it is unclear which specific requirements drew the ire of banking employees, internal documents state that “the moral and religious requirements to participate in plans like [this plan] appear to conflict with TD’s values of diversity and inclusion.”

In other words, the bank targeted these groups because they promote a life lived in accordance with Biblical teachings.

TD Bank also flagged “a nonprofit organization with a mission of promoting pro-life views” and required it to undergo a probe by the company’s “reputational risk committee.” Even if in some cases the banks did not outright deny loans, the excessive paperwork and probing acted as a de facto way to reject applicants by scaring them away from even applying.

Banks also discriminated against companies providing valuable services to the country, including oil and gas exploration, coal mining, and firearms manufacturing. In some cases, banks denied financing to projects in these industries because the banks had public commitments to “decarbonization.”

However, publicly traded banks are supposed to act in the fiduciary interest of their shareholders, not use depositors’ money to push a left-wing agenda.

Political pressure from the Biden administration also allegedly coerced banks like Wells Fargo to reject financing gun manufacturers. The report cited internal concerns that “[u]nder the Biden administration, banks could face greater supervisory pressure to move away from lending to the firearms industry.”

Despite this overwhelming evidence, critics will argue that there is not a concerted effort to target conservatives, as these are only a handful of isolated cases. Some banks, such as Capital One, have also allegedly denied business relationships with pro-abortion groups.

However, the clear and convincing majority of cases suggest that major banks discriminated against right-of-center companies and organizations, often relying on left-wing groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center to screen out applicants. Moreover, Americans should understand that if big banks can target high-profile groups and individuals, they can target anyone.

Companies of course can take legitimate steps to ensure they are not financing drug operations, gangs, or terrorist groups. And there may be cases where small religious credit unions or banks decline to do business with organizations that conflict with their values.

The deeper issue is bigger than any one bank or any one conservative organization. In modern America, access to banking is essential to earning a living, running a business, raising money, and participating fully in the economy. Allowing powerful financial institutions to quietly punish customers because executives dislike their politics, religion, or lawful business activity gives unelected corporate actors enormous power over public life.

That is why the OCC report matters. If banks want the protections, privileges, and public trust that come with operating at the center of the American financial system, they should be expected to serve law-abiding customers without imposing ideological litmus tests.

The Trump administration’s investigation is an important start. Now regulators should make clear that political debanking is not merely bad corporate behavior — it is an abuse of power that will have consequences.