Former President Donald Trump posted on social media on March 22 that “through hard work, talent, and luck, I currently have almost five hundred million dollars in cash.”
This comes as the former president needs to put up upwards of $454 million to stay judgment in his civil fraud case while he appeals—to effectively hold off the New York Attorney General from potentially seizing his buildings during the appeal.
President Trump posted that he had intended to use a “substantial amount” of his money in his presidential campaign, before blasting the judge and attorney general on the civil fraud case.
“THE OFTEN OVERTURNED POLITICAL HACK JUDGE ON THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT A.G. CASE, WHERE I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG, KNEW THIS, WANTED TO TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME,” President Trump wrote.
“THAT’S WHERE AND WHY HE CAME UP WITH THE SHOCKING NUMBER WHICH, COUPLED WITH HIS CRAZY INTEREST DEMAND, IS APPROXIMATELY $454,000,000,” he continued.
Judgment was entered on Feb. 23, kicking off a 30-day clock to post the massive sum, set to expire on March 25.
Bond Needed for Stay, Not Appeal
In recent court filings, Trump attorneys and brokers argued for a second time to the appellate division of the New York Supreme Court that a $464 million bond was “impossible” to secure, requesting to post $100 million bond to stay judgment during the appeal.
Even if President Trump did not satisfy the judgment amount he would have been able to appeal.
Putting that money up via bond or as cash into an escrow account is required by state law to stay execution of judgment, to ensure that it can be collected if an appeal fails or is withdrawn. In this case the execution of judgment would have included the attorney general seizing Trump buildings, as she told reporters after the verdict.
How Much Cash?
Attorneys for President Trump estimated they would need about $577 million in cash to obtain a $464 million bond, not accounting for operating expenses needed to sustain Trump Organization in the meantime.
A broker retained by the defense had estimated that, including operating expenses, President Trump would need $1 billion in cash.
Sureties often require 120 percent of the amount posted, and in many cases additional premiums for large bonds.
After negotiating with 30-plus of the world’s largest sureties for the past “several weeks,” Trump attorneys said they had come to the conclusion that a $464 million bond, even if issued in separate $100 million bonds, was an impossibility because these companies don’t take real estate as collateral.
In a surreply, the attorney general argued that perhaps President Trump could not get the bond because he did not have as much cash as he claimed, pointing to an April 2023 deposition where he stated he had nearly $400 million cash.
His April and recent statements indicate he may have enough cash to put in escrow to stay judgment, but not enough to obtain the bond. According to his Friday Truth Social post, doing so may also stifle his ongoing campaign for reelection.
The judge found that several deals Trump Organization made had resulted in inflated profits due to fraudulent statements on the organization’s annual statements of financial condition, totaling $363 million.
In filings to the appeals division, Trump attorneys have argued that disgorgement is an inaccurate characterization because they contend there was no fraud.
They also argued the figure was an arbitrary one, because even if the deals cited required divestment of profits, the judge had double and triple counted several deals and confused profits with proceeds.