What To Know About Don Hankey, The Man That Paid Donald Trump's $175 Million Bond
Former President Donald Trump spent the early months of 2024 facing multiple financial and legal woes, including a $464 million bond in connection to his New York civil fraud case that his legal team successfully reduced to $175 million in March. As of April 2, Trump's burdens eased in large part because of a billionaire Californian known as "the king of the subprime car loan."
Trump secured a bond to pay his hefty court penalty with the help of Don Hankey, owner of Knight Specialty Insurance Company. The insurance firm is mainly known for its high-interest car loans for buyers with low credit scores. This time, Knight Specialty brokered a loan for the ex-POTUS, who posted an all-cash collateral, keeping true to the one word he used to describe how he'd pay the multi-million dollar fraud bond.
"It's what we do," Hankey told CNN. "I'm happy to do it. We would have done it for anybody else. It was an easy transaction. It was put together very quickly." Although this appears to be the first time Trump has worked with Knight Specialty specifically, this isn't the first time that Hankey has provided the former president with financial support.
Businesses tied to Hankey have lent Trump hundreds of millions of dollars already
In addition to running the Hankey Group, which includes Knight Specialty Insurance and Westlake Financial, Don Hankey owns a 5% stake — the largest individual share of the company — in San Diego-based bank Axos Financial. Axos Financial has lent former President Donald Trump hundreds of millions of dollars starting in 2022.
First, Axos helped Trump refinance mortgages on both the Trump Tower in New York City and Trump National Doral in Miami. The total cost of the loan was $225 million. Axos also provided $190 million to facilitate a sale of Trump's International Hotel in Washington, D.C. Per CNN, Hankey was not aware of Axos' 2022 dealings with the ex-POTUS.
Moreover, both Hankey and Axos Financial have denied that politics played any role in their lending decisions, stating simply that the business dealings "offer them a financial upside," per AP. "I'm chairman of the board of several companies, and we just carry on our business, and we try to stay away from political issues or taking sides," Hankey told The Washington Post.
Don Hankey and his family have contributed to Trump's and other GOP campaigns
Politics might not have played a role in Don Hankey's decision to lend Trump $175 million for his civil fraud case bond, but that doesn't mean he keeps his personal finances and political affiliations separate. Hankey (pictured, middle) confirmed to CNN that he, his wife (pictured, right), and their two sons have donated funds to Trump's previous presidential campaigns. The Malibu businessman also confirmed that he planned to support Trump in his re-election bid in 2024.
CBS News reported that Hankey and his wife donated $80,000 to the Trump Victory Fund ahead of the 2016 election. $5,400 went directly to Trump's presidential campaign, while the remainder was allocated to the Republican National Committee. Per CBS, Hankey previously told Bloomberg News that he had never met or spoken to Trump before reiterating, "I voted for him in the past, but [the $175 million bond] is a business deal, and this is what we do."
Hankey told CNN that he had previously talked to the Trump Organization about securing the original $464 million bond for the former president before the bond amount was reduced. He said he did not know where Trump obtained the $175 million he posted as collateral for the loan.