Donald Trump visits Turnberry Golf Club.Photo: Ian MacNicol/Getty
Bloomberg’s report sheds light on the challenges facing the Trump Organization in large part because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past year, according to Bloomberg, the pandemic that Trump had vowed would “disappear” has instead roiled his real estate and hospitality business. (A spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.)
The former president has more than $256 million in commercial real estate debt, though his properties are still valued in total at about $1.7 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, the business news outlet describes the Trump Organization’s financial stake in resorts and hotels around the world to be in “sad” shape, dropping about 42 percent in value since he launched his presidential bid in 2015.
Trump has $330 million in debt to pay off in that sector, while longtime lender Deutsche Bank saidit would no longer backthe mogul following the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack.
Eric Trump— former President Trump’s second-oldest son, who took over operations for the Trump Organization alongside older brotherDonald Trump Jr.— shot back at the new analysis in a statement to PEOPLE.
“Bloomberg’s valuation is a joke,” Eric, 37, said. “We have the best assets in the world, have extremely low debt relative to our holdings and have [an] incredible strong cash flow.”
Donald Trump.Joe Raedle/Getty Images
While Bloomberg reports that golf has been “one of the few bright spots” for Trump and his business during the pandemic, his ties toits biggest organizationwere likewise severed in the wake of the insurrection.
Eric hasblamed the family’s falloutwith other businesses after the Capitol riot on “cancel culture.”
In its analysis, Bloomberg describes Trump’s book deals as a “total disaster” as well. His income from memoirs and business books dropped roughly 87 percent since 2015, earning him about $119,000 in 2020.
Trump’s few gains came from his private Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, and the Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to Bloomberg.
Mar-a-Lago, where he has been living since leaving the White House in January, earned $22.9 million in 2020 compared to $22.3 million in 2015.
Donald Trump Jr. (left) and Eric Trump.MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty
Trump has more recently teased new ventures in journalism and social media as well as jumping back into television, but it’s not clear if he would be welcomed back. He wasbanned from ever rejoining the SAG-AFTRA actor’s unionin February after he resigned under mounting criticism from the group following the Capitol attack.
Elsewhere Trump is facing amounting number of legal issuesin his post-presidential life.
“Fraud was not just the family business,” his niece, Mary Trump, wrote in one lawsuit against him and his siblings over allegations the family stole her inheritance, which they deny. “It was a way of life.”
source: people.com
