Donald Trump’s civil fraud case has sparked speculation about the amount of cash available to him. New York Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay a $355 million fine, increasing to $454 million with interest, after ruling that he filed fraudulent financial statements that inflated the value of his properties and assets for years. Trump is appealing the decision and has until March 25 to secure a cash bond of the full amount needed to argue against the ruling. If the bond is not paid, New York Attorney General Letitia James could start retrieving the $454 million.
Trump’s lawyers previously submitted a request to a New York court that Trump pay a $100 million bond to appeal the decision. Trump’s legal team also suggested that the former president may have to sell some of his real estate assets to pay the almost $500 million bond. However, a judge rejected Trump’s $100 million offer and ordered that the former president pay the full penalty or cash bond amount by the original deadline.
Trump has frequently maintained that he is a billionaire, claiming during his April 2023 deposition that he has “substantially” over $400 million in cash. In October 2023, Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth as $2.6 billion. In the wake of the request to lower the bond amount to $100 million, a number of Trump critics have speculated on social media that the former president has vastly exaggerated the amount of cash he has available.
In a hearing, Trump attorney Chris Kise argued that the issue of trying to come up with almost half a billion dollars in cash is more of a logistical one. Trump could also receive a substantial amount of money after the long-delayed merger of Digital World Acquisition Corp. and Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the Truth Social platform.
