Like father, like daughter: Just as the president loves doling out adjectives like "great," "tremendous," and "unbelievable," Ivanka Trump apparently has a penchant for exaggeration of her own.
A sweeping new report from ProPublica, the result of an eight-month investigation in partnership with WNYC, has found "patterns of deceptive practices" in Trump family business deals across the world, including Ivanka highly overstating sales numbers on several properties, as well as her own involvement in sales.
The properties include projects in Toronto, Canada; Baja California, Mexico; Panama City, Panama; and Soho, New York City. "Their statements, typically made in the midst of sales drives, tended to overstate the number of units under contract or the Trump Organisation’s equity stake in projects scattered around the globe," says the report, which we highly recommend reading in full.
Ahead, read about Ivanka's most egregious overstatements from the story.
The Property: Trump Ocean Club, Panama City, Panama
One of Ivanka's first major projects, this property went bankrupt after years of drama. Financier Orestes Fintiklis eventually ousted the Trumps and removed their name from the building (and, in a petty twist, started serving drinks called the "Fire and Fury" and the "Stormy Jack Daniels" at the bar). The tallest building in Central America, the sail-shaped hotel and condo is now a JW Marriott.
In a November 2008 interview, Ivanka said: "It’s a 1,000-unit building, we've sold over 90% of it." In reality, ProPublica reported, 79% of the units were pre-sold as of three months later, according to Moody's credit-rating service. She also told the interviewer she had sold 40 units, although a lead real estate agent for the project said she "didn’t sell any units that he knew of." She did, however, pick out many of the design elements, including the lobby's "tropical colour palette," which was "reminiscent of indigenous flowers."
Matt Carasella/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images.
The Property: Trump Soho, New York City
This project also eventually went bankrupt, with the Trump name removed. In June 2008, Ivanka told reporters that 60% of the units at the tower had been sold, when only 15% had been, ProPublica found. Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. were close to being charged with felony fraud in this case, but the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, eventually backed off. (He got a visit from Trump's attorney Marc Kasowitz, who happened to be a donor to his campaign, although he later returned the donation.)
Photo: Theo Wargo/WireImage.
The Property: Trump International Hotel, Toronto, Canada
This is another project that was built, but went bankrupt, with the Trump name removed. In a 2009 interview, Ivanka boasted that the property was "virtually sold out," but in reality, 24.8% of the units had been sold, according to 2016 bankruptcy documents filed by the developers. As of a year ago, the tower was reportedly three-quarters empty.
Photo: George Pimentel/WireImage.
The Property: Trump Ocean Resort, Baja, Mexico
Trump abandoned this never-built project in 2008 after delays and cost issues. According to ProPublica, investors were falsely led to believe that Trump was a developer on the project — he was just licensing his name for it. Ivanka tried to entice buyers by saying she had bought a unit there herself. "I personally am very excited about it, I actually chose to purchase a unit in the first tower," she said in a promotional video. However, as Univision found in sales records, the deposit she put in was less than half of the 30% other investors were required to pay.
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