Trump's business career is more connected to retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy than we ever knew
- Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's son loaned President Donald Trump over a billion dollars for his real estate projects, The New York Times reported.
- Justin Kennedy was the head of Deutsche Bank's real estate capital markets division and loaned to Trump when other banks wouldn't.
- Justice Kennedy's retirement gives Trump an opportunity to shift the balance of the Supreme Court to the right.
The son of recently retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy reportedly gave President Donald Trump over a billion dollars in loans to finance his real estate projects when other banks wouldn't, according to The New York Times.
Justin Kennedy, the former global head of Deutsche Bank's real estate capital markets division, was reportedly one of Trump's closest business associates and most important lenders.
Because of Trump's inconsistent track record in business, which included filing for bankruptcy multiple times and being frequently sued, most other major banks would not lend to him.
Deutsche loaned Trump the funds he needed to construct and renovate skyscrapers and other developments in both New York City and Chicago, sources familiar with the matter told Rhe Times.
After Trump's first address to Congress in February 2017, he reportedly stopped to chat with Justice Kennedy afterwards, saying, "Say hello to your boy... special guy."
The Times article describes an unusually close relationship between Justice Kennedy and Trump and a "quiet campaign" from the White House to encourage Kennedy to retire. Trump praised Kennedy and his work, even though he had handed down decisions on hot-button issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and the death penalty that many conservatives in Trump's party disagreed with.
After nominating Justice Neil Gorsuch to fill a Supreme Court vacancy in January 2017, Trump appointed three judges who had previously clerked for Justice Kennedy to federal appeal courts, and included another two on the shortlist to fill any subsequent vacancies on the Supreme Court, The Times reported.
The announcement of Kennedy's retirement on Wednesday sent shockwaves through Washington and constituted a victory for Trump, who will now choose Kennedy's replacement pending confirmation from the Republican-controlled Senate.
By nominating a solidly conservative justice to replace Kennedy, who was known as a "swing vote" and a decider in many key cases, Trump and the Senate will be able to swing the ideological balance of the court to the right, a move that will likely satisfy his base in a crucial midterm election year.