Another aspect of this is that Trump had agreed to personal liability on another loan from Deutsche bank in order to get a 2% rate rather than 8%. He was also required to maintain a net worth of $2.5 billion:
>>>But after shopping the loan around to other banks, Vrablic offered the best loan: her division’s deal came with a 2% interest rate vs. the commercial real estate division’s offer of 8%. “It doesn’t get better than this,” Ivanka Trump said.
The tradeoff was that Trump would personally have to guarantee the full amount of the loan—$125 million—and maintain a net worth of $2.5 billion and $50 million in unencumbered liquidity.<<<
The New York attorney general is suing Donald Trump for defrauding banks
qz.com
The need to maintain the $2.5 billion in net worth appears to be one of the main things driving Trump's wildly inflated property values. Trump was personally on the hook so the bank had him by the balls.
Despite all the bluster, a lot of Trump's actions over the past several years appear to be driven by desperation.
The Deutsche bank loan came up at trial today during Ivanka's testimony. This appears to be the single biggest transaction at issue in the case (I don't feel like googling it right now, but I seem to recall that this one transaction acounts for $150 million of the $250 million the state is seeking in fraudulently obtained benefits).
>>>The origins of the Trump Organization’s relationship with Deutsche Bank quickly took focus during
Ivanka Trump’s testimony at her family's civil fraud trial on Wednesday. . . . Emails introduced into evidence while Ivanka Trump testified detail the relationship further.
In a message dated Dec. 6, 2011, Ivanka Trump told Vrablic: “My father and I are very much looking forward to meeting with you tomorrow to discuss Doral,” referring to the South Florida golf club that the Trump Organization acquired. . . .
In an email dated Dec. 15, 2011, Ivanka Trump told then-Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and other executives: “It doesn’t get better than this. lets discuss asap.”
The Trump Organization’s then-executive vice president Jason Greenblatt responded four minutes later: “I will review, but not [sic, note] immediately that this is a FULL principal and interest and operating expense
personal DJT guaranty. Is DJT willing to do that?
Also, the net worth covenants and DJT indebtedness limitations would seem to be a problem?”
In 2011, Trump’s net worth was $1.6 billion, according to the attorney general’s calculations. The Trump Organization claimed on statements of financial condition that it was $4.3 billion. After some discussion, the bank lowered the covenant to obligate Trump to maintain at $2.5 billion net worth.<<<
Emails introduced into evidence on Wednesday while the former president's daughter testified detail work on the Doral golf course in South Florida.
themessenger.com
The Greenblatt email saying that the net worth requirement "would seem to be a problem" is potentially somewhat ambiguous, but it certainly doesn't help Trump's defense. The defense can of course argue that "a problem" doesn't mean his real net worth was less than the required amount, but the response to that is "If his net worth was well above the require amount, why would it "seem to be a problem"?
Although a lot of Trump's anger appears to be acting, I suspect that Trump might be frustrated by the trial because it's exposing his dishonesty in his dealings with other large businesses. His pride in his business seems to be the main thing defining his own self worth. He lies constantly when speaking in public, but that's "just" lying to the American public. He probably believed that lying to the public wouldn't hurt his credibility with other businesses.
Being called out publicly for lying to a major bank is different because it demonstrates to potential business partners that Trump will lie to anyone if he thinks it will help him make a buck. This will likely hurt his business going forward because the other parties will require more onerous terms to compensate for Trump's propensity to lie.
Mazar's dump of Trump is probably an example of this.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/nyregion/mazars-trump-organization-financial-statements.html
My theory on what might be going on in Trump's head is of course speculative, and it rests on the shaky presumption that there is something going on in his head (yeah, that last part was a cheap shot, but who cares?)
Another side note: borrowing is key to Trump's strategy of avoiding income tax. Rather than receiving income from his businesses and paying taxes on it, he just borrows money perpetually because the interest is less than he'd pay in taxes, and the value of the real estate hopefully goes up more than the very low interest rate he's paying, so he can just refinance and borrow more.
If he cannot get highly favorable interest rates to live on borrowed money, it will have a big negative effect on his tax-avoidance strategy. Conceivably, poor Trumpy Wumpy might even have to pay income taxes like all of the working stiffs who believe he's fighting for them in some way (this is of course ironic given that he's fighting precisely because he doesn't want to be like them).
