President Donald Trump’s crusade against political foes he claims have all coincidentally committed mortgage fraud may have just boomeranged and hit him square in the face.
Records show Trump himself has done the very thing he has now routinely claimed constitutes “fraud” when it’s done by his critics, according to a new ProPublica investigation. Years before his rise to the White House, the president signed two mortgages weeks apart, declaring each as his principal residence, and then renting out both, according to a report.
It’s the same move he branded as “deceitful and potentially criminal” when it was done by a political opponent he has since targeted.
Records show Trump, 79, signed a mortgage on a “Bermuda style” Palm Beach house in December 1993 and, seven weeks later, a second on a neighboring seven-bedroom property—attesting that both would be his principal residence.
The outlet found contemporary ads and spoke to the wife of his longtime real estate agent. She said the homes were marketed as rentals “from the beginning,” while there’s no evidence Trump lived in either, with legal papers from that period listing Trump Tower as his address.
Mortgage-law experts told ProPublica that claiming multiple principal-residence loans is not illegal on its own—but the conduct matches what Trump and his loyalists at the Justice Department have labeled as fraud. “He’s going to either need to fire himself or refer himself to the Department of Justice,” said Suffolk University’s Kathleen Engel.
A White House spokesperson told ProPublica, “President Trump’s two mortgages you are referencing are from the same lender. There was no defraudation. It is illogical to believe that the same lender would agree to defraud itself.”
The spokesperson added that “this is yet another desperate attempt by the Left wing media to disparage President Trump with false allegations,” and said, “President Trump has never, or will ever, break the law.”
The White House did not answer questions from ProPublica about other records—such as loan applications—that might show what Trump told the lender or whether any exceptions were granted.
The investigation follows the administration’s crackdown led by Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, 37, who has said “two primary residences” should be referred for criminal investigation.
Pulte’s office helped drive a criminal referral against New York Attorney General Letitia James, 67, over her mortgage. That case was dismissed, and a grand jury last week refused to re-indict her.
Trump has also targeted Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, 61, declaring he would fire her over alleged “dual primary” loans. Cook denies wrongdoing and is fighting removal.
ProPublica previously found multiple Trump Cabinet officials also signed mortgages naming more than one “primary” home.
In Palm Beach, Trump’s two Woodbridge Road properties—bought with Merrill Lynch loans of $525,000 and $1.2 million—carried standard clauses requiring occupancy as a principal residence within 60 days for at least a year unless the lender agreed otherwise.
Rental listings show the larger home offered at $3,000 per day in 1997, while another advert touted “Mar-a-Lago privileges.” Bank of America, which now owns Merrill Lynch, declined to discuss the specifics.
Even if any violation occurred, the mid-1990s loans are long since paid, and the statute of limitations has run out, the outlet notes.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
