Trump company seeking to delay some payments amid coronavirus: report
The Trump Organization is among the businesses seeking delays on financial obligations amid business closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, The New York Times reported.
Company representatives have spoken to Deutsche Bank, the firm’s largest creditor, about delaying payments on some loans amid the closures of its hotels and golf courses, according to the Times, citing financial documents and people familiar with the matter.
Last week, the company also reportedly discussed with Palm Beach County, Fla., officials whether they were expected to continue making monthly payments on county-owned land it leases for one of its golf clubs, the newspaper reported, although the discussions remain preliminary, and it’s unclear whether President Trump’s company will be able to delay or reduce forthcoming payments.
“These days everybody is working together,” the president’s son Eric Trump, who is tasked with managing the family business, told the newspaper. “Tenants are working with landlords, landlords are working with banks. The whole world is working together as we fight through this pandemic.”
Like numerous other businesses not deemed essential, the Trump Organization has temporarily closed numerous properties, including its Las Vegas, New York and Washington hotels, most of its Florida and New Jersey golf clubs and Florida’s Mar-a-Lago club. Some individual properties, however, have remained open in the absence of specific government instructions to close, the Times reported.
The organization’s Doral resort in Florida has shut down entirely, while its Washington, D.C., hotel, which it leases from the federal government, remains open, but its restaurant and bar are closed and guests have been minimal.
The Washington hotel’s search for potential bids on the lease from new buyers has reportedly been placed on hold.
Palm Beach County officials, meanwhile, are reportedly looking into whether the pandemic meets the “act of God” provision in its 1996 lease and whether it could be used to allow it to delay payments. Adding to the uncertainty is a provision in the relief package recently passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump that bars any of $500 billion in rescue funds from going to the president or his family.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump Organization for comment.
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