Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction

In 2014, Bill Broeksmit, a senior executive at Deutsche Bank, was found dead in his London apartment. His death raised questions, particularly given the bank's apparent reluctance to encourage investigation. Broeksmit had been instrumental in building the 150-year-old institution into a global financial power. David Enrich traces Deutsche Bank's history from the 1880s, when it supported a struggling American real estate developer, through its involvement with Nazi Germany and later Eastern Bloc authoritarian regimes. In the 1990s, the bank pursued aggressive expansion into Wall Street markets, often compromising ethics and legal compliance. The institution engaged in market manipulation, violated international sanctions to support terrorist regimes, defrauded investors and regulators, and laundered money for Russian oligarchs. Desperate for an American presence, Deutsche Bank began lending to Donald Trump, whom most other banks considered too risky. Over two decades, the bank loaned billions to Trump, the Kushner family, and other controversial clients, including Jeffrey Epstein. Dark Towers examines Deutsche Bank's transformation into a symbol of financial recklessness and criminality, alongside the story of Broeksmit's fears about what he witnessed at the bank and his son's subsequent investigation into his secrets.