Major banks have been scrambling to cover their tracks since Trump returned to power.
Their desperate damage control efforts aren’t working.
And a gun rights coalition just caught big banks in one massive lie that has Trump seeing red.
Banks got caught trying to rewrite their own history
Six major Second Amendment groups – including the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, Gun Owners of America, and the National Association for Gun Rights – just delivered a scathing letter to the heads of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and the Bank Policy Institute.¹
The coalition didn’t mince words about what these banks had been up to during the Obama and Biden years.
The letter describes a "brazen and ideologically driven campaign" against gun manufacturers and retailers that undermines Second Amendment rights.
These weren’t subtle policy disagreements or routine business decisions.
The gun rights groups are calling out these banks for engaging in "revisionist history" to hide their coordinated attacks on conservative businesses and gun owners.
What makes this even more infuriating is how the banks are trying to play innocent now that Trump is back in the White House.
The truth about what really happened under Obama and Biden
Here’s what these banks don’t want you to remember about their behavior during the previous Democrat administrations.
Bank executives recently admitted to Fox Business that they faced "very, very real" pressure from Obama and Biden officials to use debanking tactics for political reasons.²
They were forced to deny services to certain industries as part of Operation Choke Point under Obama and Operation Choke Point 2.0 under Biden.
But the gun rights coalition isn’t buying the banks’ attempts to blame government regulators for everything.
The letter points out that when banks announced policies restricting services to gun-related businesses, they cited their own "values" and "corporate responsibility" – not regulatory pressure.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan committed in 2019 congressional testimony to stop lending to companies that make "military-style rifles for civilian use."³
That vague phrase was deliberately broad enough to include some of the most popular firearms in America used for hunting, home defense, and other constitutionally protected activities.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said during the same hearing that he would "consider" following Bank of America’s lead if his risk committee determined it was necessary.
Banks scramble for cover as Trump exposes their game
Now that Trump is back in power and has signed an executive order outlawing debanking, these same banks are singing a very different tune.⁴
A Bank of America spokesperson told Fox News that they "have consistently provided banking services to retail, wholesale and manufacturers of firearms" and updated their policy in 2023.
A JPMorgan Chase source claimed the bank hasn’t "cut off banking services to the industry" and serves "thousands of companies in direct firearms businesses."
But the gun rights coalition sees right through this corporate doublespeak.
The coalition called out banks for attempting to "whitewash" their targeting of firearms companies and Second Amendment organizations.
The coalition is demanding these banks issue a formal, public commitment that they will no longer attempt to debank or discriminate against gun-related companies and organizations.
The coalition’s letter exposes something far bigger than routine business decisions.
Financial institutions have systematically targeted entire industries by denying basic banking services. Fox Business reported that Trump accused these same banks of discriminating against him, saying they "totally discriminate against many conservatives."
Under Obama and Biden, banks had regulatory cover for these practices through Operation Choke Point initiatives. Bank executives told Fox Business the government pressure was "very, very real."
With Trump back in office and his anti-debanking executive order in place, these institutions are scrambling to distance themselves from their previous actions. They’re now claiming they were simply following regulatory guidance.
The gun rights groups aren’t accepting these explanations. Their letter demands concrete pledges that banks will stop discriminating against Second Amendment businesses.
The banks now have to decide whether they’ll issue the public pledges the coalition is demanding. Their response will show whether Trump’s executive order has teeth or if financial institutions think they can wait out his administration.
Either way, the gun rights groups have put these banks on notice that their debanking days are being closely watched.
¹ Alec Schemmel and Peter Pinedo, "Gun-rights coalition blasts big banks for ‘whitewashing’ debanking attacks, demands pledge," Fox Business, September 24, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
