The bank responds that the loan agreement makes clear that it has a right to do everything it has done, and that Mr. Trump should live up to his obligations, paying $40 million of the $334 million outstanding balance on the construction loan. The rest is owed by the Trump-controlled company sponsoring the project but is not personally guaranteed by him.

If Mr. Trump was forced to pay the $40 million, he would be unlikely to permanently lose it, since his company would owe it to him. If the project went under, his claim would rank higher than the Fortress loan. Deutsche will make nothing from its investment in the junior loan if Mr. Trump does lose any money.

Some sort of settlement seems wise. It is in everyone’s interest that construction be completed, and in fact the bank advanced $13 million to pay contractors’ bills this week.

Mr. Trump has not said by how much he thinks the apartments are overpriced, and he did not tell me. But it seems unlikely that sales will be very good until prices are cut.

In his suit, Mr. Trump claims that the bank’s “predatory lending practices” are harming his reputation, “which is associated worldwide with on-time, under-budget, first-class construction projects and first-class luxury hotel operations.”

The bank seized on the opportunity to discuss Mr. Trump’s reputation. “Trump is no stranger to overdue debt,” it said in asking that his suit be thrown out of court. It noted that Mr. Trump’s casino operations have filed for bankruptcy twice, adding, “This suit is classic Trump.”

The bank did not discuss why that history did not dissuade it from making the loan. One explanation might be that the fees it got for arranging the loan more than offset the risk from the small part of the loan it kept on its own books.