Deutsche Bank seeking to offload three Trump loans: report

Deutsche Bank is aiming to end any financial ties to President Trump after the United States elections due to negative attention the bank has received as a result of the relationship, Reuters reported Tuesday. 

Three senior bank officials with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters that while the German multinational investment bank has been reevaluating its financial relationship with Trump for years, recent congressional and other investigations that have pulled the bank into Trump’s affairs and alleged Russia connections have given new urgency to concerns from bank officials. 

One senior executive reportedly told Reuters that the new attention is seen by the bank as “serious collateral damage” from the relationship, making it an unwelcome distraction for the bank, according to three officials. 

According to filings made by Trump to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in July and a senior source within the bank, in two years the Trump Organization will owe $340 million in loans from Deutsche Bank. 

Two bank officials told Reuters that the three loans against Trump properties are current on payments and are personally guaranteed by the president. 

Since the late 1990s, Trump has been lent more than $2 billion by the German bank, according to one of the officials who spoke to Reuters. 

Reuters reported that a Deutsche Bank management committee that oversees risks for the lender in the Americas has been mulling options on how to end the remaining financial ties to Trump, including by selling the loans on the secondary market. 

The White House declined to comment on the matter when contacted by The Hill. The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who serves on the Senate Banking Committee, has previously called for an investigation into Deutsche Bank over its money laundering controls and relationship with the Trump family. 

Warren told Reuters that she plans to keep pushing for a probe in the next presidential administration.

“You bet I’m going to continue to fight for accountability and strong enforcement of our banking laws, especially for giant institutions like Deutsche Bank,” she said.

The three bank officials who spoke to Reuters said that if Trump loses his race for reelection and Democrats take control of both the White House and Congress, bank executives worry that they could be tied into additional investigations surrounding Trump’s financial history.