Although US President Donald Trump has maneuvered over the years among many difficulties – the threat of bankruptcy, sexual harassment allegations, intense federal investigations, and impeachment – it is not burdened with regret, writes the Bloomberg…
Wealth, celebrity, and the presidency have kept Trump alive, the author writes. All of this also meant that Trump did not learn from his mistakes.
Now, however, Trump faces two threats that will come after he leaves the White House in January. One is financial, the other is legal.
The agency emphasizes that none of these impending problems is fully controlled by Trump. And both issues can help explain, along with his eternal inability to accept failure, why Trump does not acknowledge that President-elect Joe Biden will succeed him, and why he brought in the Republican Party to help him educate Americans about the outcome of the presidential election.
Trump and his businesses within the Trump Organization are in over $ 1 billion in debt. Some of that amount has been disclosed over the past few years in the president’s personal financial statements submitted to the Government’s Ethics Office. The New York Times recently reported that Trump’s personal debts – $ 421 million, with over $ 300 million to be paid over four years.
In other words, Trump is on the hook. In the context of the pandemic, its business hotels, entertainment, urban real estate were particularly affected. Forbes estimates his assets are worth $ 3.7 billion; Bloomberg News estimates them at about $ 3.2 billion. He will not go broke. Most of his assets are not liquid, which means he could be pressured to sell assets quickly if he needs to raise funds to pay off debts. Among Trump’s most valuable assets, for example, minority stakes in two properties. Rumors about the need to sell assets could further reduce the value of Trump’s portfolio.
Another thing that will weaken Trump’s ability to negotiate big financial deals or forgiveness: leaving the presidency.
From a legal point of view, Trump, his children, and their companies are being investigated in the fields of finance, accounting, and taxes.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is investigating Trump’s case in connection with possible tax fraud and forgery of business documents, according to the court of appeal. In the investigation, which also looks at the president’s payment of silence to two women who allegedly had sexual relations with him, prosecutors are seeking Trump’s eight-year tax return. She is also considering whether Trump has inflated the value of his property and other assets in order to raise funds from lenders and investors.
New York Attorney General Laetitia James has launched another investigation, also focusing on whether the Trump Organization and the Trump family manipulated the estimates to secure funding or tax breaks.
