Former President Donald Trump said this week that he had the amount of money needed to pay for his approximately $454 million New York bond payment accumulated as the result of several civil cases against him. Despite having the liquid assets, the former president said that he would not use the money for the bond despite threats from New York Attorney General Tish James (D) to seize his property to cover the cost.
The former president’s announcement came as a surprise and followed statements by his attorneys that they could not raise the amount needed for the bond.
Trump promised that he would fight the ruling “all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.”
The former president wrote on social media that he had accumulated the cash through “HARD WORK, TALENT AND LUCK.” He said that the amount was what he intended to use in his political campaign.
He cited Judge Arthur Engoron, who he called an “OFTEN OVERTURNED POLITICAL HACK JUDGE” and the case brought by James, which he called “CORRUPT.”
Trump wrote that he did “NOTHING WRONG” except “WIN AN ELECTION IN 2016 THAT I WASN’T EXPECTED TO WIN, DID EVEN BETTER IN 2020 AND NOW LEAD, BY A LOT, IN 2024. THIS IS COMMUNISM IN AMERICA!”
THROUGH HARD WORK, TALENT, AND LUCK, I CURRENTLY HAVE ALMOST FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN CASH, A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF WHICH I INTENDED TO USE IN MY CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT. THE OFTEN OVERTURNED POLITICAL HACK JUDGE ON THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT A.G. CASE, WHERE I HAVE DONE…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) March 22, 2024
Trump’s attorneys wrote that getting the money for the bond was a “practical impossibility under the circumstances presented.”
“These diligent efforts have included approaching about 30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers,” read a filing from the former president’s legal team. “A bond requirement of this enormous magnitude – effectively requiring cash reserves approaching $1 billion … is unprecedented for a private company.”
The former president’s attorneys requested that the court stay the judgment pending appeal “and put the brakes on the Attorney General’s overzealous litigation crusade.”
James has threatened to seize the former president’s assets if the state does not receive the demanded bond payment. This could include some of Trump’s most well-known buildings in New York City.
