NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

US inauguration: Donald Trump facing 'financial minefield' after leaving White House

By Natalie Brown
news.com.au·
21 Jan, 2021 09:56 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Photo / AP

Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Photo / AP

Donald Trump has stepped straight from the grounds of the White House today into a "financial minefield".

Exacerbated by his incessant, baseless claims of election fraud and the violent siege on the US Capitol, carried out by the ex-president's most "loyal" supporters earlier this month, the situation "appears to be unlike anything he has faced since his earlier brushes with collapse", The New York Times' Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig declared in a new article.

A bombshell report by the Times last September revealed the tax records he had long fought to keep hidden, claiming the self-described billionaire had been paying a minuscule amount of income tax and has hundreds of millions of dollars in personal debts due within the next four years.

Many of his resorts were losing millions of dollars a year – even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck; he had "burned through" much of his cash and easy-to-sell assets and a decade-old IRS audit threatened to cost him more than US$100 million to resolve.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Last September, Forbes estimated that Trump's net worth had dropped by US$600 million in a year to US$2.5 billion.

While in the past the 74-year-old could pull himself out of similar binds by banking on his mainstream marketability and television stardom, the chaotic, final months of his presidency have eroded any of the charm or gravitas he once held.

Donald Trump speaks to crowd before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base. Photo / AP
Donald Trump speaks to crowd before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base. Photo / AP

"Donald Trump will be remembered as the first president to be impeached twice," Matthew Continetti, journalist fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told the BBC.

"He fed the myth that the election was stolen, summoned his supporters to Washington to protest the certification of the Electoral College vote, told them that only through strength could they take back their country, and stood by as they stormed the US Capitol and interfered in the operation of constitutional government.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"When historians write about his presidency, they will do so through the lens of the riot."

Had Trump "followed the example of his predecessors and conceded power graciously and peacefully, he would have been remembered as a disruptive but consequential populist leader", Continetti said.

But the "attack on democracy" that was January 6 – when Trump's reputation was already on a knife's edge – saw his "last-ditch lenders vow to cut him off".

His own son – though hardly a reliable source of information – recently declared there "has never been a political figure with more support or energy behind them than my father".

Discover more

World

Where to now? Republican Party considers Trump purge

21 Jan 06:00 AM
World

Trump's adult children plan their next moves after leaving White House

21 Jan 05:14 AM
World

Donald Trump's sneaky move before leaving office

21 Jan 04:00 PM
Lifestyle

The best US inauguration memes so far

21 Jan 02:37 AM

"There will be no shortage of incredible opportunities in real estate and beyond," Eric Trump told The New York Times in a statement.

Yet the PGA has wiped its hands of him, cancelling an upcoming tournament at Trump's Bedminster golf course, and New York City moved to strip him of contracts to run several venues.

Donald Trump walks down the steps before a speech near a section of the US-Mexico border wall. Photo / AP
Donald Trump walks down the steps before a speech near a section of the US-Mexico border wall. Photo / AP

"Trump is so reputationally toxic that a lot of financial institutions won't want to do business with him," Georgetown University's Professor Adam J Levitin, who focuses on finance and bankruptcy, told the publication.

While the Trump campaign has managed to raise more than US$250 million in political donations since the November election, campaign finance laws ban him from using the entire amount to solve his money woes.

Trump personally guaranteed repayment of a US$100 million loan on Trump Tower next year; US$125 million on his Doral golf resort in Florida in 2023; and US$170 million on Washington's Trump International Hotel in 2024.

If he fails to pay or refinance, lenders could pursue his other assets.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He's also staring down the barrel of multiple legal battles – threatening to deepen any financial hardship – that include investigations into potential tax fraud, civil suits for his role in promoting a multi-level marketing scheme and allegations of defamation and sexual misconduct.

During his presidency, Trump's lawyers repeatedly invoked immunity and executive privilege to keep him from having to testify – but once again a private citizen, he's now far more vulnerable, having departed Washington in greater legal jeopardy than when he arrived.

"It's a potential avalanche," former federal prosecutor Kim Wehle told NPR in November.

"But this is, again, a man that is very used to using the legal system to his advantage."

Save
    Share this article

Latest from World

World

15 per cent tariff on EU goods as Trump announces trade deal

World

Luxury boom in Argentina masks despair among the masses

Premium
World

Drivers vs cyclists: A battle for the streets in Toronto


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

15 per cent tariff on EU goods as Trump announces trade deal
World

15 per cent tariff on EU goods as Trump announces trade deal

Pharmaceuticals excluded from European deal.

27 Jul 06:28 PM
Luxury boom in Argentina masks despair among the masses
World

Luxury boom in Argentina masks despair among the masses

27 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Premium
Drivers vs cyclists: A battle for the streets in Toronto
World

Drivers vs cyclists: A battle for the streets in Toronto

27 Jul 06:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP