According to his lawyers, US presidential candidate Donald Trump has not yet been able to pay the security deposit of over $454 million required in a New York fraud trial. Such a large sum could not be raised “under the circumstances,” said a letter from Trump’s lawyers to an appeals court.
Trump was ordered by a court in mid-February to pay $354.9 million plus interest, which is continually added up. The court found it proven that Trump, his sons and employees had manipulated the value of the Trump Organization for years in order to obtain cheaper loans and insurance contracts.
The verdict and the payment problems could damage Trump’s image as a successful businessman. The magazine Forbes estimates the real estate entrepreneur’s assets at $2.6 billion. Trump recently stated his cash assets were around $400 million.
Now the Republican must either submit hundreds of millions of dollars himself or provide security by March 25 to appeal and prevent New York state from seizing his property.
His lawyers are now trying to prevent that. Many bail companies would not provide security over $100 million and would not accept real estate in return, Trump’s lawyers wrote to the court. They asked for a delay or a limit of $100 million.
In another case, Trump had already posted bail for $96.1 million a few days ago. It was about a libel case against the writer E. Jean Carroll, who is said to have sexually abused Trump in the 1990s. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations in both cases and has announced an appeal.
There was never a threat of prison time or direct impact on Trump’s bid for the presidency in the civil lawsuits. However, the ex-president is currently involved in further proceedings. A judge recently confirmed that a trial in connection with hush money payments to a porn star should begin on March 25th. It would be the first criminal trial of a former president in US history. Three further criminal trials are being prepared, including on allegations of attempted election manipulation. Civil lawsuits are also ongoing. Critics accuse Trump of wanting to delay the proceedings until after the election in early November.