What’s it worth to have Donald Trump’s golden boys—not Junior or Eric or Barron, the other boys—in a vice? Trump owes money. A lot of money. And much of that he owes to a single not-so-scandal-free source, Deutsche Bank. Trump owes them at least $364 million. Because of Deutsche Bank’s many regulatory and fiscal issues, there’s a very real chance that those loans are going to soon be available at an auctioneer near you.
But wait! Don’t bid yet. Trump’s second biggest source of (known) debt is a a real estate investment firm, Ladder Capitol. Trump owes them $282 million, including a $100 million mortgage on the Manhattan White House—Trump Tower.
And Ladder Capitol is almost certainly on the way out.
Ladder Capital Corp, a real estate investment trust which has bankrolled much of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's property development, is exploring the possibility of a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ladder is working with Citibank to put itself up for sale. Meaning that someone, somewhere, may get a chance to acquire a set of unique golden puppet strings.
… it raises the specter that some of Trump's biggest loans will be available for anyone to purchase. …
The possibility that a foreign government could purchase Ladder Capital and its portfolio of loans, including Trump's, would cause other complications for Trump and the conflicts of interest already saddling his soon-to-be presidency.
No matter what Trump says he is worth, most of that value is theoretical, not money in the bank. $600m+ is not something Trump can replace with a raid on Barron’s college fund. It’s going to be interesting to see who is waving the paddles for the chance to have the president of the United States on the hook.
Of course, the state-owned Bank of China already has Trump for close to a billion. Maybe they’d like to tighten up that grip.