Wall Street has been agog since last Thursday, when Donald Trump announced that Steven Mnuchin — who made his fortune at Goldman Sachs, worked for a firm funded by George Soros, and donated to Hillary Clinton — would be responsible for helping him raise $1 billion for Republicans and his own campaign.
.. Despite what Mr. Mnuchin said was a personal friendship of 15 years, Mr. Trump has attacked both Mr. Mnuchin’s investment company — suing it in 2008 over a building deal — as well as Goldman Sachs, the Democratic Party and other institutions Mr. Mnuchin has supported.
.. Mr. Mnuchin’s new job with Mr. Trump is filled with seeming contradictions. Mr. Trump spent much of his campaign attacking Goldman Sachs, using the bank to malign Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi, who is an investment manager there, and Mrs. Clinton, who famously received rich honorariums for giving speeches there. “I know the guys at Goldman Sachs,” Mr. Trump said during one debate, poking at Mr. Cruz. “They have total, total control over him. Just like they have total control over Hillary Clinton,” he declared.
.. Indeed, many of the nation’s largest banks — including Goldman Sachs — haven’t done business with Mr. Trump in years. Among the lenders on Mr. Trump’s disclosure form, only Merrill Lynch, among the country’s largest lenders, is listed for a loan made in 1993 and 1994. Since then, smaller banks or foreign institutions like UBS and Deutsche Bank are listed as his biggest lenders.
.. Mr. Trump sued the lenders, including Dune, in 2008 to extend the terms of the loan on the basis of “unprecedented financial crisis in the credit markets.” The suit was later settled.