(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump said Friday he has enough cash on hand to cover the New York civil judgment against him and his business but wants to use that money to get re-elected.
In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump made it clear he wants to hang on to both his cash and his real estate portfolio. New York Attorney General Letitia James has said she will take steps to seize Trump’s assets if he doesn’t put up the money.
Monday is the deadline for Trump to come up with $464 million, plus interest, or a bond for that amount to appeal a civil case that threatens his presidential campaign and his real estate portfolio.
“Through hard work, talent, and luck, I currently have almost five hundred million in cash, a substantial amount of which I intended to use in my campaign for president,” Trump wrote in all caps Friday morning.
Trump is appealing a ruling by Superior Court Judge Arthur Engoron in a civil fraud lawsuit brought by James in 2022.
In another post, Trump wrote: “So one Corrupt, Radical Left Judge in New York, a Trump hater a the highest level, can disobey and laugh at the Appellate Division Ruling that gives me victory, and confiscate New York property from me that took a lifetime of hard work to accumulate and build? It sounds like COMMUNISM to me! THERE SHOULD BE NO FINE, I DID NOTHING WRONG.”
Engoron found that Trump, his company and top executives – including his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump – deceived banks and insurers by inflating the value of his family’s wealth on financial statements used to secure loans.
The judge ordered Trump to pay $355 million in penalties, which, with interest, has grown to nearly $464 million.
Trump has said he can’t get a bond for the amount and asked to put up a $100 million bond instead. James has said she will seek “judgment enforcement mechanisms in court” if Trump can’t come up with the money. That could include seizing his real estate holdings.
