More of Trump’s Banks Cut Ties as Backlash Grows Over Violence

Donald Trump’s tumultuous relationship with the financial industry is once again under pressure after his top creditor, his hometown bank and even his mortgage lender spurned him in the wake of riots at the U.S. Capitol.

The question is whether his other banks and financial backers — including giantsCapital One Financial Corp. andJPMorgan Chase & Co. — plan to keep him as a client.

Fresh strains in Trump’s relationship with the industry began emerging late Monday.Deutsche Bank AG decided not to conduct more business with Trump or his family company while waiting for him to pay off roughly $300 million in loans in years ahead, a person with knowledge of the situation said. Manhattan-basedSignature Bank, a mere 10-minute walk down Fifth Avenue from Trump Tower, announced it’s closing Trump accounts holding about $5.3 million.

Then on Tuesday,Professional Bank, which once gave him an $11 million mortgage, said it won’t do more deals with the Trump Organization and “will be winding down the relationship effective immediately.”

Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons running the family business while his father is in the White House, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

With New York Cityjoining anonslaught of companies and entities looking to pull back from doing business with Trump after he encouraged a mob of supporters to storm the Capitol, here’s a look at the firms that provide him with credit or hold his money, and what they have said about those ties:

Capital One

The firm known for its credit cards holds as much as $75 million of Trump’s money across four checking and savings accounts, mostly for his revocable trust, according to the president’s July 31 financial disclosure form. Capital One paid Trump and his trust as much as $2 million in interest the prior year. Until recently the bank had a branch next to a Trump condominium building at Park Avenue and 59th Street in Manhattan. Some Twitter users have posted that they’ll close their accounts with the bank if it doesn’t take action against Trump. “As a matter of policy we do not discuss current or former customer relationships,” the bank said in a statement issued by a spokesperson.

JPMorgan Chase

The biggest U.S. bank holds as much as $6 million across three accounts for the president, mostly in a savings account established by his father, Fred, for Trump’s benefit, filings show. JPMorgan paid Trump as much as $17,500 in interest for the year. “We’re going to decline to comment,” said bank spokesperson Amy Bonitatibus.

BankUnited Inc.

The Florida-based bank holds as much as $25.25 million across two money-market accounts for Trump, filings show. The vast majority of that is in an account for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. The bank paid Trump as much as $102,500 in interest for 2019. Trump’s commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, was once part of an investor group that purchased BankUnited in the aftermath of the financial crisis. It later became a publicly traded company. The bank’s representatives didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

First Republic Bank

Trump had as much as $50,000 in a checking account at the California-based lender as of July 31, filings show. “There was a single account, which was inactive and is closed,” First Republic said in a statement provided by external spokesperson Greg Berardi. He declined to specify the timing or otherwise elaborate.

Ladder Capital

The nonbank lender specializing in commercial real estate loaned Trump $282 million from 2012 to 2016 for four Manhattan properties, according to city records and Trump’s personal financial disclosure. The loans, backed by property including his towers at 40 Wall St. and on Fifth Avenue, were bundled into securities and sold to investors. Jack Weisselberg, a loan-origination executive at Ladder, declined to comment, and there was no response to messages sent to other executives. He’s the son of Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer who previously worked for Fred Trump.

Deutsche Bank

Trump borrowed $125 million from Deutsche Bank in 2012 for the Trump National Doral Miami resort, according to county records and Trump’s personal financial disclosure. The variable-rate debt, which is pegged either to Libor or the Prime rate, matures in 2023. He also borrowed $170 million for the Trump International Hotel in Washington in 2015 and has another 2012 loan from the German lender against his hotel/condo tower in Chicago. Both of those variable-rate loans come due in 2024. A Deutsche Bank spokesperson declined to comment.

Signature Bank

Most of the $5.3 million that Trump had in checking and money-market accounts at Signature was held for Trump’s revocable trust, according to Trump’s personal financial disclosure. The bank paid him as much as $105,000 in interest the prior year. His daughter, Ivanka, once served on Signature’s board of directors. “We believe the appropriate action would be the resignation of the president of the United States, which is in the best interests of our nation and the American people,” the bank said in a statement.

Professional Bank

The Florida-based bank held as much as $25 million in a money market account for Trump’s revocable trust, paying as much as $1 million in interest for the year, according to the July filing. The bank only recently established a relationship with Trump: In 2018 it provided a mortgage for Trump’s $18 million purchase of his sister’s home in Palm Beach across the street from his Mar-a-Lago club. The $11 million loan carries a 4.5% interest rate and matures in 2048, according to county records and Trump’s personal financial disclosure.

‘Under-Leveraged’

Eric Trump has described the Trump Organization as a profitable company that’s able to partner with anyone it wants.

“We are one of the most under-leveraged real estate companies in the country,” he told Bloomberg in 2019. “Virtually all of our assets are owned free and clear, and the very few that do have mortgages are a small fraction relative to the value of the asset.”

Despite Donald Trump’s past conflicts with the financial industry — he’s defaulted on loans, his companies have filed for bankruptcy and he has a penchant for suing people and organizations who don’t bend to his will — there’s been no shortage of firms willing to provide him capital or hold his money.

— With assistance by Jennifer Surane, Michelle F Davis, Sophie Alexander, Caleb Melby, and Sonali Basak

Source: Read Full Article