Trump’s Debts Pose a Direct Threat to America’s National Security
March 2024
Last February, a New York judge ordered Donald Trump and his companies to pay over $500 million dollars for fraudulently misstating the value of his financial assets. This comes after scrambling to post a $91 million dollar bond as part of the damages he owes following E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case. He has also been ordered to pay upwards of $1.5 million in legal fees for his other failed lawsuits in the past year.
How will Trump pay these hefty penalties? He says he doesn’t have the cash to do so. Trump said under oath last year that he had roughly $400 million in liquid assets, not quite enough to cover what he’d need. With no clear way to pay back his substantial debts, Donald Trump will need to take on additional debt to cover his costs. But Trump’s lawyers have said that he faces “insurmountable difficulties” in raising those funds, raising the prospect that “the former president might soon face a financial crisis unless an appeals court comes to his rescue.”
National security professionals have long maintained that large personal debts present a significant counterintelligence risk for those with access to classified information. Notably, Donald Trump’s debts rise far above what security and counterintelligence officials normally find concerning for most government servants, let alone a Commander in Chief.
His debts are hardly the only source of concern. His well-established track record of recklessly sharing classified information and use of the Presidential office for personal gain demonstrates his willingness to prioritize his own personal profits above the safety of Americans. Experts have also highlighted tell-tale signs of vulnerability to foreign influence, including erratic behavior, severe financial strain, and anger towards the United States government – all qualities exhibited by Donald Trump.
Simply put, Donald Trump’s unique and perilous financial situation presents real vulnerabilities for U.S. national security.
Trump’s financial situation is precarious – and potentially dangerous. With penalties and debts totaling more than half a billion dollars, it’s unclear how Trump will be able to cover the costs of his financial challenges.
There are few places for Donald Trump to turn for new loans or financial help. In 2020, according to legal filings, Deutsche Bank, his “lender of last resort" ended its business relationship with Trump. Which begs the question, “who else might be willing to make a loan to Trump—but one distressing possibility is that a wealthy individual, whether foreign or domestic, might see making a large loan to a potential future president as a useful way to exert influence over him.”
Trump’s financial situation grows more desperate by the day. Trump is rapidly accruing interest for each of these judgements, totaling more than $6,000 per hour until the settlements are paid in full.
Trump’s debt and shady business dealings leaves him open to foreign corruption. Desperate for financial relief, national security experts identify Trump’s debts as a potential target of foreign influence. Foreign leaders have long believed that they can curry favor with Trump by spending money at his properties or engaging in lucrative overseas business deals.
Throughout Donald Trump’s time in the White House, his foreign business dealings were a source of constant concern for national security experts, who understood the potential conflict of interest that could arise from his business empire. After he left the White House, the Trump Organization’s foreign entanglements grew even more complex. Since 2021, the organization has explored or signed dozens of deals with foreign partners. Given Trump’s dire financial situation today, these deals could leave Trump vulnerable to foreign influence, should he be elected in the fall.
Experts maintain that Trump’s extensive debts are a “vulnerability and a point of leverage for foreign adversaries seeking access to classified information.”
Trump’s businesses have long standing connections to Russian oligarchs. In March 2023, a federal criminal investigation was launched into Trump’s media company for potential money laundering violations linked to an $8 million loan with Russian ties. As president, he delayed congressionally ordered sanctions and undermined legitimate investigations into his own hidden financial interests.
Despite previously arguing that the Chinese-owned social media platform Tik Tok poses a threat to America’s national security, Trump reversed his decision after a lobbying campaign by a GOP mega-donor with a large financial stake in TikTok’s parent company ByteDance.
Trump has a history of reckless handling of America’s secrets, having repeatedly shared classified or highly secretive information with foreigners. Due to Trump’s negligence, U.S. intelligence officials have expressed serious concerns about his potential return to the White House and subsequent handling of classified information.
As President, Trump spilled details of a highly classified Israeli intelligence operation to senior Russian officials in the Oval Office. U.S. intelligence officials suggested that Trump’s revelation jeopardized a critical source of intelligence.
Months after leaving the White House, former President Donald Trump was reported to discuss sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines with a member of his Mar-a-Lago Club – an Australian billionaire who then allegedly shared the information with scores of others, including more than a dozen foreign officials.
In 2019, Trump tweeted a photograph of some of the most sensitive U.S. intelligence on Iran, leaving the intelligence community gobsmacked.
Even before taking on hundreds of millions of dollars in new debt, experts worried that Trump’s foreign business posed a threat to U.S. national security. Instead of serving the American people and putting their interests first, Trump and his family have routinely used their offices for profit by raising their own private business interests during meetings with world leaders.
During his presidency, Trump’s businesses received $7.8 million dollars from over 20 foreign governments. A 156-page congressional report titled “White House for Sale” detailed how foreign governments and their controlled entities spent millions at Trump businesses in an effort to curry favor while he was president. Among the countries, China made the largest total payment, totaling $5.5 million. Other countries, like Saudi Arabia, shelled out more than $600,000.
China also awarded Ivanka Trump seven new trademarks, and a Chinese state-owned construction company announced it would pour hundreds of millions of dollars into an Indonesia development affiliated with the Trump Organization.
Shortly after leaving the White House, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner received a $2 billion dollar investment from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. Ethics experts have said that the deal creates the appearance of potential payback for Mr. Kushner’s actions in the White House — or of a bid for future favor in a possible second Trump term.