A New York Times investigation has revealed companies belonging to the Republican Party’s presidential candidate Donald J Trump have $650 million dollars or more in debt, twice the amount disclosed in the Federal public filings by his campaign.
The newspaper hired RedVisions Systems, a property information firm, to search through publicly available data on more than 30 US properties connected to Trump, including golf courses and a vineyard.
The investigation has also revealed that a significant portion of Trump’s acclaimed fortune depends on a complex network of financial lenders and backers, some of which are almost impossible to trace.
Wrongful Disclosure? It’s Not Entirely Trump’s Fault
According to the financial disclosure form, Trump’s worth stands at $1.5 billion, whereas his publicly declared worth is a self-confessed $10 billion. Recent estimates by Forbes, Fortune, and Bloomberg place his worth at less than $5 billion. The wide margin of error is a significant warning sign: the more the scope for variation, the lesser the chances of the facts being revealed.
That Trump’s disclosure is erroneous by a margin of two is not entirely his fault. The form released by the Federal Election Commission asks that candidates list assets and liabilities under $50 million dollars or list them as being greater than the sum. For other politicians, this ceiling is reasonable enough, but for Trump, whose self-proclaimed worth stands at $10 billion dollars, this gap is wide enough to conceal the realities of the Trump empire.
For instance, the newspaper reports of this case study:
At 40 Wall Street in Manhattan, a limited liability company, or LLC, controlled by Mr Trump holds the ground lease – the lease for the land on which the building stands. In 2015, Mr Trump borrowed $160 million from Ladder Capital, a small New York firm, using that long-term lease as collateral. On his financial disclosure form that debt is listed as valued at more than $50 million.
The investigation also revealed that debt owed by companies in which Trump owns less than 100% stake has not been disclosed, which itself amounts to millions of dollars.
Decoding Trump’s Empire
Tracing the paperwork for Trump’s buildings is tricky, especially when his business partners are often limited liability companies (LLB).
For instance, in the case of 40 Wall Street or The Trump building, documents show that Trump does not even own that piece of land; he only has the long-term lease on it against a promised $1.6 million annually to two LLBs. The investigation by the NY Times could not find any paperwork about one of the companies after it was taken over in 2014.
Additionally, Trump has also taken a loan of $26 million against his lease of 40 Wall Street, further complicating the web of his empire. Trump has consistently refused to declare his taxes or agree to an external evaluation of his asset.
Given how his entire credibility as a presidential candidate is based on his ability to run a successful business empire built on healthy and smart credit and investments, this investigation shows how very little we know about the facts of the tycoon’s ‘success’.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)