COVID-19: Trump Organisation, Hit By Virus, Tries To Delay Loan Payments: Report

US President Donald Trump’s family company is asking creditors such as Deutsche Bank if it can delay loan payments as the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic deepens, The New York Times reported Thursday. The Trump Organization -- the conglomerate of companies created by Trump and now run by his sons -- is, like many others, losing money as the restrictions put in place to lessen the spread of deadly COVID-19 bring the US to a grinding halt. The New York Times said the Trump Organization contacted Deutsche Bank, seen as the only major lender willing to do business with the company, at the end of March to ask about extending some repayment deadlines.

"These days, everybody is working together," Trump's son Eric, the Organization's executive vice president, said in a statement sent to AFP. "Tenants are working with landlords -- landlords are working with banks. The whole world is working together as we fight through this pandemic," the statement continued. The Trump Organization still owes Deutsche Bank several hundred million dollars, according to the Times.

The group, whose main business is real estate development, also contacted Palm Beach County to see if it could suspend rent payments on land occupied by the Trump International Golf Club, a 27-hole course and clubhouse on more than 120 hectares. Negotiations have so far not led to any change in the financial conditions of the Trump Organization. Eric Trump and his brother Donald Jr took over the organization after their fathers' inauguration.