Loan payments loom as Trump fights for his political future - and the future of his business

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, Joe.My.God.

https://www.joemygod.com/2020/10/wapo-trump-organization-faces-looming-debt-crisis/

Politics

Loan payments loom as Trump fights for his political future – and the future of his business

By David A. Fahrenthold, Jonathan O'Connell and Joshua Partlow
October 23, 2020 at 1:29 PM EDT

At President Trump’s hotel in Chicago, the most recent board meeting began with bad news. This year’s numbers were awful. Revenue had plunged. The hotel was just 24?percent occupied. ... And worse: The hotel expected next year to be bad, too. ... In fact, the hotel’s managing director, Gabriel Constantin, said the coronavirus pandemic had hurt the Trump hotel so deeply — reducing business travel and forcing the cancellation of Chicago conferences — that it might be nine years before their business returned to 2019 levels.

“The most optimistic [date] would be 2024,” Constantin said, according to an account of the meeting obtained by The Washington Post. He had a warning about the hotel’s future, if the pandemic’s economic effects didn’t ease: “It’s going to be very, very tough to keep the boat afloat.” ... As Trump fights to save his political career, another key part of his life — his business — is also under growing stress.

In the next four years, Trump faces payment deadlines for more than $400?million in loans — just as the pandemic robs his businesses of customers and income, according to a Washington Post analysis of Trump’s finances. The bills coming due include loans on his Chicago hotel, his D.C. hotel and his Doral resort, all hit by a double whammy: Trump’s political career slowed their business, then the pandemic ground it down much further.

If Trump is reelected, these loan-saddled properties could present a significant conflict of interest: The president will owe enormous sums to banks that his government regulates. National security experts say Trump’s debts to Deutsche Bank, a German company, and foreign deals may constitute security risks if they make him vulnerable to influence by foreign governments.

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[LiberalLovinLug]

1. I would hope that he will also lose business even without COVID

That his name is mud now. And that at least half of Americans and 90% of the rest of the world will choose another hotel if they have a choice.