Donald Trump on Monday crowed to reporters that he won’t have to sell any assets to appeal his civil fraud case, thanking a New York appellate panel for its “professionalism” in reducing the former president’s bond from $464 million to $175 million and giving him an extra 10 days to raise the cash.
Following the decision, Trump held a press conference in the lobby of 40 Wall Street, which New York Attorney General Letitia James could still seize if Trump doesn’t come up with the money.
“If I have to spend 500 million on the bond, I would… have to start selling things,” Trump said. “[Now], I don’t have to sell anything.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump has been posting furiously on social media, insisting that “Nobody has ever heard of anything like this before.” He said he “would be forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire Sale prices.”
But on his way out of court this morning, Trump said would “post the $175 million in cash or bonds or security or whatever is necessary very quickly within the 10 days.”
James sued Trump and his company for business fraud, successfully making the case in court that Trump inflated the true value of his assets in order to get preferable loan rates from lenders and insurers, and reduced those same valuations in order to pay less in taxes. Trump’s attorneys previously asked that his bond be set at $100 million.
Under New York State law, a civil defendant must first put up the money ordered by the court in order to mount an appeal.
In typical fashion, Trump veered from subject to subject at Monday’s press conference, blaming his myriad legal woes on “Biden and his thugs,” “crooked” prosecutors, “fraudulent” judges, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and a host of other real and imagined enemies who he complained are “trying to damage Trump as much as possible.” He repeated over and over, inaccurately, that the cases against him amount to “election interference.”
“It’s not fair,” Trump bellyached. “It’s not fair at all.”
He described his company as “phenomenal,” claiming the Trump brand is “one of the most valuable brand values.”
“Why should I let a crooked judge make a decision to give $450 million that allows me to spend very little money on my campaign?” Trump continued. “If I so choose, I'll be spending money on my campaign. I might spend a lot of money on my campaign… So we were gratified by the professionalism of the opinions today. I thought it was a very, I think it’s a very important opinion for New York. But the only thing that's going to really solve that problem, when I win, because you’re gonna have to win because no company is going to be coming to New York if I don't win. That case, that case is a scam. It’s a sham and it’s a hoax.”
Trump also called Attorney General Letitita James “the most obnoxious and the worst” attorney general in the nation, boasting that his flagging Twitter clone, Truth Social, is “hot as a pistol.”
He claimed, however, that he was trying to avoid the New York Stock Exchange as the social media platform’s parent company, Trump Media & Technology, prepares to merge with a so-called blank check company—effectively taking the social platform public in the process.
“We’re treated too badly in New York,” Trump said.
Monday’s decision means James is temporarily blocked from enforcing the penalties handed down by Justice Arthur Engoron, including a three-year ban on Trump running a business in New York State.
Following last month’s $454 million judgment, James granted Trump—who boasted on social media recently of having “ALMOST FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN CASH” at his disposal—a 30-day grace period to raise the money, which expired Monday.
Last week, Trump’s attorneys wrote in a court filing that securing a bond of that size was a “practical impossibility,” as “[v]ery few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude.” Trump had tried, and been rejected, by more than 30 surety providers, according to the filing.
