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Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. Mauritz Antin/EPA, via Shutterstock
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| Trump and Deutsche Bank’s cozy tie-up |
| President Trump has long enjoyed the backing of one major lender: Deutsche Bank. David Enrich of the NYT has taken a deep look into their often turbulent relationship — which is now under investigation by prosecutors and Congress. |
| Deutsche Bank courted Mr. Trump when no one else would. He had already gone bankrupt, and no Wall Street lender would back him. But bankers at Deutsche like Mike Offit and Justin Kennedy (the son of Justice Anthony Kennedy) lent him millions. Mr. Trump rewarded some bankers, after some prompting, with a trip to his Mar-a-Lago resort. |
| It issued loans despite finding financial discrepancies. Deutsche Bank officials concluded that Mr. Trump was worth about $788 million, not his self-proclaimed $3 billion. And a senior banking executive told Mr. Enrich that he had told others that Mr. Trump had worked with people in the construction industry who were tied to organized crime. |
| Only when Mr. Trump sued Deutsche Bank did its investment banking arm drop him as a client. But its private wealth arm, hungry for business, eventually took him back and lent him millions more. |
| After the 2016 election, Deutsche Bank executives admitted to problems. They concluded that their colleagues had ignored many warning signs about Mr. Trump, including from internal “exposure reports.” Salesmen for the firm were warned not to utter Mr. Trump’s name in public. |
| Now the bank is in investigators’ cross hairs, and plans to hand over extensive internal documentation to Congress and federal prosecutors. Rosemary Vrablic, Mr. Trump’s main private banker — “She is the boss,” he once told the NYT — expects to be called to testify on Capitol Hill. |
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| Today’s DealBook Briefing was written by Andrew Ross Sorkin in New York, and Michael J. de la Merced and Jamie Condliffe in London. |
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| The S.E.C. is dumbfounded by Elon Musk’s tweeting |
| After Elon Musk accused the S.E.C. of trying to trample on his constitutional rights, the regulator hit back yesterday, reiterating its case that the Tesla chief should be held in contempt of court, Bloomberg reports. |
| The S.E.C. says he’s violating a court settlement under which it agreed not to charge him with securities fraud. He was supposed to have lawyers vet any Tesla-related tweets before he posts them; the S.E.C. said he hadn’t done so even once. |
| Mr. Musk had argued that the S.E.C.’s objection was to one tweet, which mentioned previously undisclosed production forecasts. But the regulator said that the settlement was meant to cover a wide variety of his statements. |
| “Such brazen disregard of this court’s order is unacceptable and unworkable going forward,” the S.E.C. said. |
| A lawyer for Mr. Musk plans to respond in court by Friday. According to Bloomberg, the lawyer, John Hueston, said that the response “would include documents reflecting the negotiation history between Musk and the S.E.C., which he said would undermine the S.E.C.’s new assertions.” |
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Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s C.E.O. Lindsey Wasson/Reuters
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| Lawmakers are circling Boeing |
| More officials are seeking answers from Boeing about an automated piloting feature that may have played a role in two fatal crashes involving its 737 Max 8 airplane. |
| • House and Senate committees are preparing to question F.A.A. leaders next month about the Max jets, with a focus on the stall-prevention system, according to the WSJ. |
| • Canada’s aviation regulator is reviewing its validation of the American certification of the 737 Max, Marc Garneau, the nation’s transport minister, told reporters yesterday. |
| • They join officials from the Justice Department and the Transportation Department, who are studying the Max jet’s development process. The Transportation Department inspector general’s office is also investigating if the F.A.A. took shortcuts in the jet’s safety approval. |
| Boeing’s C.E.O., Dennis Muilenburg, spoke out yesterday, making his first substantive public comments about the crash. “Our hearts are heavy, and we continue to extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board,” he said. He added that Boeing was “taking actions to fully ensure the safety of the 737 Max.” |
| More: If demand for Max jets falters, Airbus might struggle to build its rival offering, the A320neo, fast enough. |
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