Trump’s Own Mortgages Mirror the “Fraud” He’s Charging His Political Foes
In a new investigation, ProPublica has uncovered mortgage records showing that in 1993 and 1994, then-real-estate magnate Donald Trump signed two separate loans on neighboring Palm Beach, Florida properties — each mortgage signed under oath declaring the property would serve as his primary residence. But at the time, Trump lived in New York and the houses were reportedly rented out, not occupied by him.
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The first loan, taken out in December 1993, covered a Bermuda-style home; the second, just seven weeks later, financed a seven-bedroom mansion. Both mortgages — from the same lender, Merrill Lynch — included mandatory occupancy clauses requiring Trump to live in the homes within 60 days and stay for at least a year.
But contemporaneous local-news coverage and interviews with Trump’s longtime real-estate associates indicate the residences were rented out from the beginning and not inhabited by Trump. “They were rentals from the beginning,” one former agent told ProPublica.
Legal experts say the structure aligns closely with the same mortgage-fraud allegation framework now being deployed by the Trump administration against political rivals, including a recent targeting of New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. One expert, Kathleen Engel of Suffolk University, said the president might need to “refer himself to the Department of Justice” given how he has defined such behavior as disqualifying.
White House officials responded by saying the mortgages came from the same lender, arguing “there was no defraudation” and calling the ProPublica story “a false allegation.”
Because the mortgages were paid decades ago — and there is no concrete evidence Trump ever lived in the homes — no charges have been filed, and it remains unclear whether investigators will refer the case. The reporting raises a broader question about consistency: skeptics ask whether the rules Trump is enforcing apply equally to him, or only to his political adversaries. What happens next may depend on whether prosecutors open a formal investigation or decline — and whether public pressure prompts a policy or congressional response.
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