Donald Trump not only has political difficulties. He and his company are wading into economic and legal problems.
Donald Trump did not conclude his chaotic time as president very successfully:
• He lost the battle for reelection;
• The courts and state election authorities shot down a campaign to change the election results;
• Trump’s reputation received a serious blow when his followers attacked Congress; and
• He has been impeached for a second time; the only American president to have this happen to him.
Trump’s impeachment trial will probably start in a few weeks. If he is convicted, he could be barred from seeking reelection as president.
But Trump has more than political problems to worry about. Both state and federal authorities have begun criminal investigations into his actions, and he must simultaneously defend himself against allegations of defamation and money laundering in civil suits.
He also faces numerous economic challenges. He and his company owe millions of dollars in loans that are coming due in the next few years. This comes at the same time that businesses which were most profitable for him are now struggling, and his brand is diminished.
Great Need for Lawyers
For the impeachment trial, Trump hired attorney Butch Bowers on the recommendation of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.* Nonetheless, Trump may need a great deal more legal help in the coming days. The Washington Post summed up his problems in an article this week.
• He is being investigated in a civil case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
• New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has begun a criminal investigation into Trump’s actions. Trump has now lost the immunity that came with being president. Among other things, Vance is examining, whether Trump has committed criminal evasion of taxes.
• A federal inquiry led by Michael Sherwin, interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, may include Trump’s role in the deadly storming of Congress.
• According to experts cited in another Washington Post article, Trump faces possible legal liability for his December call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the man responsible for certifying elections in his state, during which he told Raffensperger to “Go find me some votes.”
On top of all this, The Washington Post reports that Trump will be dogged by Roberta Kaplan, lawyer for three separate clients who have filed lawsuits against the former president, including author E. Jean Carroll, who sued Trump for defamation after he maintained she “was totally lying.” Carroll alleges that Trump raped her a quarter of a century ago in the dressing room of one of Manhattan’s most fashionable stores.
Kaplan also represents the real estate magnate’s niece, Mary L. Trump, who claims that Trump and two of his siblings robbed her of an inheritance worth millions of dollars.
Nevertheless, being sued is nothing new for Trump. His biographer has described how, early on, he adopted the strategy of meeting an attack with an even stronger counterattack. Before Trump became president, he and his company had been involved in over 3,500 legal cases over the course of three decades, USA Today reported in 2016.
Trump Must Pay Back Enormous Loans Soon
The New York Times got a big scoop last year when they got hold of some of Trump’s tax returns. Unlike other presidents, Trump has refused to make his tax returns public, and he fought back when the New York County district attorney tried to secure the information.
The tax records show that many of Trump’s companies have hemorrhaged money for some time. Over the course of the next three years, his company, the Trump Organization, must make loan payments totaling approximately $388 million, money Trump has personally guaranteed.
This could be a problem. Companies that have been losing money for quite some time have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Papers that Trump turned over when he left the presidency show that his hotels, golf courses and other properties ran at a loss of more than $117 million last year, as reported by The Washington Post.
Banks, law firms, patrons and partners such as the American Golf Association, have abandoned him.
On top of this, tax authorities maintain he has claimed illegal tax deductions. If he loses that case, he risks having to pay back approximately $99.9 million.
Trump collected approximately $246.8 million in his campaign to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Federal law prohibits Trump from using this money to rescue himself from his personal finance trouble.
Everything May Now Have Become So Much Worse
Trump has been on the brink of collapse before, but he was saved either by his father’s money or by his income from the TV show “The Apprentice.” Both of these sources of income are now gone.
The conflict-filled conclusion to his presidency may have aggravated his problems, The New York Times reported this week. In the past, Trump has made considerable money by licensing the Trump brand, but his brand has been considerably diminished, by both baseless claims of election fraud and a violent assault on American democracy.
Deutsche Bank, which has been important in financing Trump projects, made it clear earlier this month that it will not loan him any more money. Eric Trump, Trump’s son, told The Times they expect considerable interest in the brand name from abroad. They are also considering starting a media company.
By 2016, people already speculated that Trump would start a TV station. At that time, everyone thought Trump would lose the presidential election. But don’t bet the house on Trump starting a TV station now, writes Politico. Politico believes Trump doesn’t have the money, and that existing media companies, including the conservative Fox News, will go for his throat if he tries.
*Editor’s note: Butch Bowers withdrew as Donald Trump’s counsel on Jan. 30.
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