Trump Says Admin Will Be Looking Into Banks Regarding Los Angeles Wildfires

U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration will review how banks handled mortgage payments and other debts for homeowners affected by the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, with a particular focus on Wells Fargo.

What Trump said

• Trump stated on Thursday that his administration “will be looking into banks,” explicitly singling out Wells Fargo, after meeting with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger in Washington.

• He criticized Wells Fargo as “very difficult to deal with” and said that banks “must treat those people, who so horribly lost their Homes in this tragic fire, very fairly and well.”

Context: the LA wildfires

• The 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires in the Los Angeles area killed 22 people, destroyed around 12,000 homes, and caused more than $50 billion in property damage.

• These fires led to prolonged rebuilding and insurance disputes, and local officials have been pressing both insurers and major banks to ease the financial pressure on affected families, for example through forbearance or modified loan terms.

What “looking into banks” likely involves

Trump did not announce a specific enforcement action or new regulation but suggested federal scrutiny of how banks treated disaster victims’ debts and payment obligations after the fires. This could involve reviewing whether banks offered sufficient deferrals, fee waivers, or loan modifications consistent with existing disaster-relief expectations, rather than immediately moving to foreclosures or strict collections.