Monday’s exposé from The New York Times into President Donald Trump’s longtime relationship with Deutsche Bank was eye-opening on a number of levels, from the fact that the bank went into “damage-control mode” in the aftermath of the 2016 election as the prospects they would be drawn into a Trump investigation intensified, to the fact that the president lied about his own net worth to his bankers.
One laughable episode of the new revelations, however, concerns the fact that Trump apparently promised a bunch of bankers a trip to his exclusive Mar-a-Lago golf resort while trying to motivate them to sell bonds in his name — and then tried to worm his way out of it when they actually did what he asked:
According to a Deutsche Bank executive who heard the remarks, Mr. Trump gave a pep talk. “Fellas, I know this isn’t the easiest thing you’ve had to sell,” the executive recalled Mr. Trump saying. “But if you get this done, you’ll all be my guests at Mar-a-Lago,” his private club in Palm Beach, Fla.
The sales team managed to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bonds. Mr. Trump was pleased with the results when a Deutsche Bank executive called, according to a person who heard the conversation.
Once the executive reminded Trump of his promise, however, “Mr. Trump said he did not remember and that he doubted the salesmen actually expected to be taken to Mar-a-Lago.” After the executive protested, saying “That’s all they’ve talked about the past week,” Trump relented and ultimately flew out 15 salesmen on his private jet to spend a weekend golfing with him.
It seems as though Trump cannot help but make promises he doesn’t intend to keep in crucial business transactions.
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