John Avlon On Deutsche Bank And Trump: 'It Is A Head Smacking Tale'
"For all of you out there who were denied a mortgage, despite good credit score and liquidity, just because the big banks were running scared after the financial crisis of 2008, we have a story for you," John Avlon said.
"Because one very big bank stuck by one very controversial client for decades, through thick and thin, mostly thin, extending him $2.5 billion in loans, when other banks wouldn't give him the time of day. Talking, of course, about Donald Trump. The financial institution in question? Deutsche Bank. It is a head-smacking tale, all connected to the title Trump used to give himself. 'I'm the king of debt.'
"In the '90s, fresh off losses in New York City, it felt no other banks would deal with him, but Deutsche Bank did. What followed was hundreds of millions in loans, officers who loved trips in Trump's private jets and trips to Mar-a-Lago. Then there was an accusation of a forged signature on a bank document, that Trump wasn't worth what he said he was. Then came this stunning bit of brass. After the financial crisis, Trump actually sued the bank to get out of a massive $500 million loan. Because former Fed chief Alan Greenspan called the meltdown a tsunami, making it, in Trump's mind, an act of God.