Trump claims he has $454 million in cash, undercutting his lawyers

Trump’s suggestion sharply contrasts what his lawyers told a New York appellate court earlier this week that it would be “a practical impossibility” for him to post a bond covering the full amount. His lawyers cited rejections from 30 bond underwriters in their request for a stay of enforcement on the judgment.

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who brought the lawsuit against Trump, can begin enforcing the judgment March 25, barring financial or court developments. That could entail seizing his bank accounts, real estate and other assets. Financial experts have said that filing for bankruptcy could alleviate Trump’s financial jam, but Trump is not considering that approach, The Washington Post reported earlier this week.

Engoron ordered Trump to pay the penalty on February 23, after he ruled that the former president and his company used false financial statements to deceive banks and insurance companies. The ruling in the case came to $363,894,816, with the inclusion of $9,026,048 in penalties against Trump’s two adult sons and another company executive. Adding prejudgment interest brought the total for all defendants to more than $464 million, and post-judgment interest has accrued at more than $100,000 a day.

Trump’s claim also comes as the former president faces a significant cash disadvantage in his presidential campaign compared to President Biden. On Wednesday night as Federal Election Commission filings were due, Biden’s campaign reported $71 million cash on hand for his principal campaign committee, compared to Trump’s $33.5 million, at the end of February. Save America PAC, the political action committee that the Trump campaign has been using to pay the legal bills for the former president and many of his associates, spent more than it raised in February.

According to filings, Save America PAC reported $4 million in cash on hand at the end of February, and spent about $7 million over the same period, including $5.6 million to lawyers. Trump has not contributed any of his own money to his campaign.

Trump, however, could see a potential cash windfall, after shareholders voted Friday to take his media company public. That move could grant Trump a stake worth billions of dollars that he could use to pay for his legal bills. Trump will own about 60 percent of the company, which at DigitalWorld’s current share price is worth about $3.3 billion.

In his post, Trump continued to criticize James and portray himself as a victim of a weaponized legal system, a claim he makes frequently in stump speeches and that his campaign has used to fundraise.

“I 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,” he posted again in all caps.

Drew Harwell, Jonathan O’Connell, and Clara Ence Morse contributed to this report. This is a developing story.