Deutsche Bank still hasn’t reached a deal to remove Donald Trump’s personal guarantees from around $300 million in real estate loans, more than three months after talks between the German lender and Trump’s associates were first reported.
With the guarantees still in place, the U.S. faces the unusual prospect of a foreign financial association going after a sitting U.S. president’s assets if he were to default.
Bloomberg reported that the bank’s senior executives have now taken over the matter from loan officers to determine its potential ramifications. If the bank simply removed the guarantees, it could be seen as being too soft on the president. If it asked for higher interest rates in return, it could anger the most powerful man in the world.
In 2012, Trump took out $125 million in loans from Deutsche Bank’s private banking group to finance his Trump National Doral Miami golf resort. According to filings with the federal election commission, the loan carries an interest rate of 1.75 percentage points over Libor.
In 2015, he borrowed another $170 million to fund the conversion of an old post office in Washington, D.C., into a hotel near the White House. Deutsche Bank also issued a loan against the Trump International tower in Chicago.
Trump’s Justice Department is currently investigating the Frankfurt-based lender on claims that it helped wealthy Russians move money under dubious circumstances, raising the specter of a conflict of interest.
In December, Bloomberg reported that the bank was in talks with Trump to remove the guarantees in a bid to minimize conflicts of interest. [Bloomberg] — Konrad Putzier