Wall Street holds hundreds of millions of dollars of Donald Trump's debt, widening the number of potential conflicts the president-elect's businesses could pose for the incoming White House, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Trump's debt from his businesses and other properties is held by more than 150 financial institutions, according to the newspaper's analysis of legal and property documents. The debt is packaged as securities and has been sold to investors over the past five years, The Journal said.
"The problem with any of this debt is if something goes wrong, and if there is a situation where the president is suddenly personally beholden or vulnerable to threats from the lenders," Trevor Potter, a general counsel to the presidential campaigns of Republicans George H.W. Bush and John McCain, told the Journal.
Representatives of the financial institutions either declined to comment or didn't respond to requests for comment from The Journal. CNBC has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.
In December, Trump tweeted that he would be leaving his businesses "before January 20th" so he could "focus full time on the presidency." Later that month, he canceled his planned address to discuss the future of his businesses, and said it would be rescheduled before his inauguration.
Trump announced on Jan. 11 that he would hold a general news conference. Many expect he will discuss his businesses.
