Times appear to be harder for Donald Trump than one might think.
He has quietly mortgaged his beloved Mar-a-Lago club to raise $25 million – just two weeks before his deadline to repay a crucial personal loan of $26 million to his publicly held casino empire.
The repayment of the loan was vital to the financial health of the casino group because part of the $26 million was needed to cover an $11 million interest payment on bonds of another casino property, his Indiana riverboat, to prevent a default on bonds.
Trump paid back his loan a week before the May 15 deadline. He took out the mortgage, although he had said earlier he wouldn’t have to tap into the 17-acre ocean front club in Palm Beach – where he says members pay $100,000 and up to join.
Local county records show that Trump took out loans April 26 totaling $25 million on the property, from Washington,D.C. -based Union Labor Life Insurance Co.
“I don’t know what the records say,” Trump said when asked about the recorded mortgage. “I have cash on hand. I have mortgages on many buildings, and I don’t have mortgages on other buildings.”
Prior to borrowing $25 million on Mar-A-Lago, Trump only had $116,130 left to pay on his original $10 million mortgage on the property.
The Palm Beach County appraiser’s office said the club has a market value of $19 million, as of January, 1999.
Mortgage records show that Trump could borrow up to $50 million total on the property over the next 20 years.
Meanwhile, Trump took steps to start overseeing the casino group on his own.
His long-time associate, Nick Ribis, 54, has left his post as president and CEO of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts. Trump, who’s chairman, will assume Ribis’ duties.
“I now have a lot more time because prices in Manhattan are going so high that you can’t buy anything now…and I’m going to devote a lot more time to Atlantic City. And you don’t need two people, you can have one.”
Trump says he fired Ribis, but others familiar with the matter said Ribis had first resigned for another job only to discover an article in a local paper the next day saying he’d been fired by Trump.
Despite the turmoil, Trump’s stock price jumped nearly 16 percent yesterday to $2.75, up 37 cents.