For months, the Trump administration has drawn a hard line on mortgage fraud, using it to question the integrity of some of the president’s loudest critics, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James. But reporting from several outlets shows that long before he turned the issue into a political weapon, Donald Trump took part in the same kind of mortgage arrangement he now calls “deceitful and potentially criminal.”
Are Accusations Confessions?
he controversy centers on Trump’s use of two primary-residence mortgages for neighboring Palm Beach properties in the 1990s. This is a move that, by his administration’s current standard, fits the definition of fraud. In late 1993, Trump secured a mortgage for a Bermuda-style home on Woodbridge Road, affirming he would make it his main residence. Seven weeks later, he obtained another mortgage for a massive seven-bedroom mansion next door and attested, again, that the property would serve as his primary home.
Unlike what he declared, Trump continued living in New York and never moved into either house. Instead, the properties functioned as high-end rentals — precisely the kind of arrangement that federal officials under Trump now call out when pursuing investigations against others. Newspaper ads from that time listed the homes for lease: “They were rentals from the beginning,” Shirley Wyner, the late real estate agent’s wife and business partner who was herself later the rental agent for the two properties, told ProPublica. “President Trump never lived there.”
At the time, Trump was emerging from financial turmoil following casino and hotel failures. He was also attempting to transform Mar-a-Lago, then still classified as a residence, into a private club. Buying up adjacent properties not only gave him leverage with neighbors but also created revenue streams. Local coverage from the early ’90s made clear that the plan was to renovate and rent the homes, not inhabit them.
Mortgage law experts say that while holding two primary-residence loans is unusual, it is not automatically illegal. Lenders sometimes allow overlapping mortgages when a borrower is relocating or when errors occur in paperwork, ProPublica reported. Fraud hinges on intent, and the statute of limitations on any potential violations from the 1990s expired long ago. But the experts also note the striking gap between the administration’s definition of misconduct and Trump’s own behavior. “Given Trump’s position on situations like this, he’s going to either need to fire himself or refer himself to the Department of Justice,” Kathleen Engel, a Suffolk University law professor and leading expert on mortgage finance, told ProPublica. “Trump has deemed that this type of misrepresentation is sufficient to preclude someone from serving the country.”
Trump’s response to questions about the old mortgages was brief — he hung up on a ProPublica reporter. A White House spokesperson dismissed the reporting as politically motivated, arguing that because both mortgages came from the same lender, it would be illogical to believe any fraud was intended. The administration insists Trump has never broken the law.
But while the White House rejects any suggestion of wrongdoing, federal officials have pressed forward with mortgage-fraud allegations against several of Trump’s perceived opponents. Among them is Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, whom Trump attempted to oust earlier this year. In a letter posted publicly, he accused Cook of signing two primary-residence mortgages weeks apart, the very scenario now documented in his own past. Cook denies any misconduct and is challenging her removal in court.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump and his company in 2022 and won, has faced repeated federal attempts to indict her over how she classified a Virginia home she later rented out. Although a federal judge dismissed the original indictment and a grand jury declined to refile charges, the Justice Department has continued its efforts. James has called the case “baseless” and an example of political weaponization.
Trump has also accused Democratic lawmakers Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, both of whom have denied wrongdoing. Meanwhile, reporting from ProPublica and Bloomberg has revealed that several members of Trump’s own Cabinet signed mortgage documents listing multiple homes as their primary residences.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Labor Secretary, had mortgages on homes in Arizona and Oregon in 2021. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy maintains mortgages on homes in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has mortgages on homes in Long Island, New York, and Washington, D.C. And Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent had made “contradictory mortgage pledges,” listing two different houses as his primary residence, Bloomberg reports.
