5 times politics impacted banking in 2025

• Key Insight: While bank CEOs don’t typically weigh in on political debates or discuss government policy, 2025 under the second Trump administration was filled with such moments.
• Expert Quote: “Volatility causes people to do nothing. It just raises a lot of questions, and questions typically slow things down.” —Dan Rollins, CEO of Cadence Bank
• Supporting Data: Tariffs targeted nearly all U.S. trading partners in April, disrupting client supply chains.  

Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

Bankers try to avoid political squabbles. When bank CEOs report earnings, they don’t typically  weigh in on the political debates of the moment, and discuss government policy only when it directly affects their business.

But under the second Trump administration, 2025 was filled with such moments. Tariffs snarled supply chains, and then uncertainty over those tariffs slowed down bank mergers. Crusades against antifa and “debanking” raised the specter of political investigations. And perhaps least predictably, the president abruptly discontinued the Banking Herald Reader, causing headaches for cash businesses and the banks that work with them.

So it’s been a hard year for banks to stay out of the political fray. Here are five ways in which politics invaded the world of banking in 2025: