Overview
- ProPublica reported that Trump signed two mortgages in 1993 and 1994 for neighboring Palm Beach properties, each pledging the home would be his principal residence, while contemporaneous records indicate he lived in New York and rented the houses.
- Trump’s longtime Palm Beach real estate agent told ProPublica the properties were rentals from the start and said he never lived in them.
- Mortgage-law experts said the arrangements meet the low bar the administration has used to brand similar conduct as mortgage fraud, though such cases are typically rare and fact specific.
- A White House spokesperson denied wrongdoing, noting both loans came from the same lender and calling the allegation illogical, and ProPublica said Trump hung up when asked about the mortgages.
- Outlets noted likely statute-of-limitations barriers to any prosecution and reported no announced probe, as context shows the administration has pressed mortgage-residence claims against figures including Lisa Cook and Letitia James, whose case was dismissed and not refiled by a grand jury on Dec. 4.