Politico essentially retracted the entirety of an article published last week reporting that President Donald Trump owed tens of millions to the Bank of China from a real estate deal brokered with the Trump Organization in 2012.
Politico reported the borrowed funds were scheduled to be paid back by 2022 in the piece headlined, “Trump owes tens of millions to the Bank of China – and the loan is due soon.”
Trump’s “tens of millons” in debt held by the bank however, is non-existent, and was sold off by the China-owned financial institution shortly after the deal. Even worse, Politico admitted their reporters never reached out to the bank to inquire about the loans.
“Politico received a statement from a representative for Bank of China USA, which had not been contacted beforehand, that the bank had sold off, or securitized, its debt shortly after the 2012 deal.” Politico wrote in an editor’s note. “A spokeswoman said the bank has no current financial interest in any Trump Organization properties.”
Politico had first changed the article headline to “Trump owed tens of millions to the Bank of China,” before acknowledging that an unresolved discrepancy remained in records with Wells Fargo and the New York Department of Finance identifying the Bank of China as holding interest in the Manhattan building.
“Politico attempted to reach other parties to the refinancing throughout the weekend and Monday,” the editors wrote. “Consequently, the story was updated a second time on Monday evening to take account of the apparent mistake in the public record.”