President Trump on Thursday defended his relationship with Deutsche Bank, the German lender that facilitated loans for his pre-White House projects and is now the subject of multiple investigations, saying the company has been “maligned.”
Deutsche Bank was the lone major financial institution willing to lend to Trump over the last two decades, a reflection of the number of bankruptcies involving his companies. Ties between the two have since come under scrutiny from federal authorities and congressional Democrats, who are examining the president’s business dealings and finances.
“The Fake News Media loves the narrative that I didn’t use many banks because the banks didn’t like me. No, I didn’t use many banks because I didn’t (don’t) need their money (old fashioned, isn’t it?). If I did, it would have been very easy for me to get,” Trump said on Twitter.
“A bank that I did use years ago, the now badly written about and maligned Deutsche Bank, was then one of the largest and most prestigious banks in the world! They wanted my business, and so did many others!” the president said in a subsequent tweet.
….And remember, a bank that I did use years ago, the now badly written about and maligned Deutsche Bank, was then one of the largest and most prestigious banks in the world! They wanted my business, and so did many others!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 11, 2019
Two Democrat-led House committees are seeking Trump’s financial records from Deutsche Bank, though the president is attempting to block subpoenas for the records. Democrats have also requested information from Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars LLP, and Capital One bank.
Federal investigators are reportedly looking into whether Deutsche complied with anti-money laundering laws and its handling of suspicious activity reports compiled by bank employees about entities owned or controlled by Trump and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and a White House senior adviser.
Separately, the Justice Department is probing Deutsche Bank’s work for a Malaysian government fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad. Goldman Sachs, one of Deutsche’s competitors, has already become entangled in the investigation into 1MDB.
In addition to being in the crosshairs of congressional and federal investigators, the 149-year-old Deutsche recently said it would slash 18,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring.
