Justin Elliott
justinelliott.bsky.social
Justin Elliott
@justinelliott.bsky.social
ProPublica reporter. Email tips/comments/complaints: [email protected]
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December 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The White House said in a statement there was “no defraudation” because Trump used the same lender for each mortgage.
December 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM
But Trump’s two mortgages clearly exceed his own standard for “mortgage fraud.”

We found numerous rental listings for the properties.

The listing agent from the ‘90s told us in an interview: “They were rentals from the beginning.” “President Trump never lived there.”
December 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM
For months Trump has accused political enemies of mortgage fraud for just this: claiming more than one primary residence. Trump called one who did so “deceitful” and “CROOKED.”

(Experts say having two such mortgages can be valid and even when wrong is rarely prosecuted.)
December 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM
But there’s no evidence Trump moved in. The homes were used as investments and rented out, according to news accounts and an interview with his longtime realtor.

Trump “hired an expensive New York design firm” to “dress them up to the nines and lease them out annually.”
December 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM
He got two mortgages just seven weeks apart. The two documents Trump personally signed said he would make each home his principal residence for a year, unless the lender agreed otherwise.

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
Trump mortgage 1993
www.documentcloud.org
December 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The year was 1993. Trump was dealing with the business wreckage from a series of high profile bankruptcies and he had just married Marla Maples. In Palm Beach, he was pushing to turn Mar-a-Lago into a private club, and he decided to acquire two properties next door on Woodbridge Road.
December 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM
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November 14, 2025 at 12:19 PM