How did the Trump Organization refinance or retire Deutsche Bank loans between 2021 and 2022, and which lenders replaced those liens?

1. The context: Deutsche Bank’s exit and the pressure to rework debt

Deutsche Bank’s decision in January 2021 to stop doing new business with the Trump Organization left about $340 million in outstanding loans that needed attention and created urgency for replacements or payoffs, a dynamic reported across multiple outlets and flagged as the backdrop to the refinancing moves that followed ^{[3] [5] [6]}. Bloomberg and Reuters reported banks pulling back after the Capitol riot, while other coverage notes Deutsche’s private-wealth arm had previously stepped in to manage exposures, underscoring that the bank’s public severing of future business did not immediately erase existing credit lines ^{[7] [6]}.

2. What was paid off: the DC hotel sale and debt reduction

One of the clearest retirements came when the Trump Organization sold the Washington, D.C., hotel and used proceeds to pay down roughly $170 million of Deutsche Bank debt tied to that asset, a transaction described in Forbes and subsequent reporting as a direct reduction of the bank’s exposure ^[1]. That sale materially lowered the aggregate Deutsche balance and illustrated a straightforward way the organization retired legacy liens rather than seeking long-term extensions with Deutsche itself ^[1].

3. What was refinanced and who replaced Deutsche

Reporting identifies Axos Bank, a mid-sized San Diego lender, as the principal replacement lender for at least two major loans in 2022: Axos originated a $100 million mortgage secured by Trump Tower in February 2022 and provided about $125 million to refinance the credit tied to the Doral resort in May 2022, effectively stepping into positions previously associated with Deutsche or other lenders ^{[4] [2]}. Forbes and Quartz both document Axos’s role and note that Axos came into the deals via mortgage brokerage channels and that the loans were registered publicly ^{[4] [2]}.

4. Mechanics and players: brokers, guarantors, and politics

The refinance work involved mortgage brokers who identified opportunities, Axos credit officers who signed the paperwork, and internal guarantees: court reporting and Forbes indicate senior Trump family members (and in some filings company officers) provided guarantees tied to Axos lending, and Axos executives had previously shown political support for Trump—facts that critics flagged as potential conflicts or motives for a smaller bank to underwrite risk that larger banks eschewed ^{[8] [1] [4]}. At the same time, Deutsche’s retreat followed questions it had asked about the Trump Organization’s financial disclosures—reporting suggests the company did not fully satisfy those inquiries before Deutsche moved to cut future business, an operational trigger for lenders to seek other counterparties ^[2].

5. What remains unclear and where reporting limits exist

Public reporting documents key transactions—Axos’s $100 million and $125 million loans and the DC hotel sale that repaid roughly $170 million—but does not provide a fully exhaustive, line-by-line ledger of every Deutsche Bank lien, the exact legal mechanics of each lien transfers, or whether all remaining smaller Deutsche loans were extinguished versus restructured or securitized by other banks; therefore the known replacements are Axos for the Tower and Doral and asset-sale paydown for the DC debt, while at least one Chicago loan still appeared outstanding into 2024 in some accounts ^{[4] [2] [1] [3]}. Alternative interpretations exist—one strain of coverage emphasizes lender risk appetite and political ties as explanations for who stepped in ^{[8] [4]}—and Deutsche’s public statements and regulatory filings provide partial but not complete transparency about the final disposition of all its exposures.