The government of Afghanistan owes Donald Trump’s Trump World Tower more than $200,000, according to a property lien filed last week with the New York City Department of Finance. The debt relates to unpaid charges for a unit in the building across the street from the United Nations, which is popular with foreign governments. 

According to the lien, Afghanistan has not paid for common charges and other fees in the building since March 2022, resulting in a debt of $219,914.75. A similar document filed last year shows they missed additional payments at the end of 2021. They do not appear to have missed payments while Trump served as president, but started to miss payments after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. 

Afghanistan purchased the unit in Trump World Tower for $4.2 million in 2009. Five foreign governments own units in the building that are operated as diplomatic facilities. The Trump Corporation, part of Trump’s eponymous business empire, manages the building and collects fees in the form of monthly “common charges” for doing so. Afghanistan’s debt includes “common charges, storage-room fees, electricity charges, attorneys’ fees, late charges, assessments and interest,” according to the lien document. While some items on that list may not be owed to Trump’s company, common charges are probably the cost driver. During 2018, Afghanistan paid nearly $40,000 in these fees. 

These payments were a focus of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Democrats’ report on foreign payments to Trump earlier this year. Trump reported receiving $20 million in “management and related fees” from the Trump Corporation on last year’s personal financial disclosure. 

The lien comes at a precarious time for Trump and Trump World Tower. While the Board of Managers at Trump World Tower is in theory an independent board looking out for the best interests of the building’s unit owners, it has been accused of acting instead with only Donald Trump’s best interest in mind. Trump’s son Eric sits on the board, as does Trump Org Vice President of Property Administration Sonja Talesnik, who signed the lien. Earlier this year, they moved to keep loyalists in control of the board to quell a movement to drop the Trump name from the building (along with licensing dollars and potentially the management contract), which according to supporters would raise property values. 

As the Trump name has become more and more associated with legal troubles, more and more buildings are moving to drop the association with the former president, who was recently convicted of 34 felonies. This is not the first time Trump has fended off danger of losing his deal on Trump World Tower. According to the New York Times, years ago a board not under his control accused him of financial impropriety at the then-new tower. Trump sent now-convicted fixer Michael Cohen to regain control of the board for Trump, “orchestrating a coup that culminated in a standoff between his security detail and private guards hired by the disgruntled owners.”

Last year, the Trump Corporation won in court against apartment owners in Trump World Tower, after a judge ruled that the Trump-owned company could renovate a commercial space it owns and bill the condo board $1.75 million for the renovations–on top of $190,000 in annual rent. The space, a former bar, is to be an amenity space for residents. The judge in the case wrote “The board may not have made the wisest decision” in the deal it made with the Trump Corporation, but it was legally enforceable, despite the fact that “all improvements paid for by unit owners will become the property of the Trump Org affiliate.” Raising questions about the deal is the fact that it was signed on behalf of the board by only two people–the two employees of the Trump Org.

Donald Trump owns a building and controls a condo board that is owed hundreds of thousands of dollars by a foreign government as he seeks to become president again. This represents a dizzying conflict of interest. Problematic as it is for Trump to make money from foreign governments, a debt raises the possibility Trump could use the power of the presidency to pursue collection, or seek retaliation. 

Trump’s foreign entanglements are potential Emoluments Clause violations and national security threats if he serves in government again. Afghanistan’s large debt to Trump World Tower is case in point.

Photo by Arthur T. LaBar under a Creative Commons license

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