Trump Lenders of Last Resort: Subprime Auto King and Online Bank

Donald Trump called California “a dumping ground” for “prisoners, terrorists, mental patients” in a September speech.

It’s “not a great state anymore,” he added.

But it’s where he’s turning for crucial support from a small group of financiers.

Don Hankey, the billionaire who’s known as Los Angeles’s subprime auto king, arranged Trump’s $175 million appeal bond in New York state’s civil fraud suit. Hankey is also the largest individual shareholder in Axos Financial Inc., the San Diego-based online lender that refinanced the former president’s $100 million Trump Tower loan as his asset valuations were in question and floated ...