Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks after exiting the courtroom as he attends his Manhattan courthouse trial in a civil fraud case in New York, October 18, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Donald Trump on Friday claimed to have nearly half a billion dollars in cash — after his lawyers said he doesn’t have enough money to post a bond for his $464 million civil fraud appeal.
The apparent contradiction could be serious: Trump has just a few days left to get an appeal bond that would stop New York Attorney General Letitia James from starting to collect on the massive judgment.
“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,” Trump wrote in an all-caps Truth Social post Friday morning.
He also claimed the judge who delivered the fraud verdict was preventing him from spending his money on his presidential campaign.
This marked the first time Trump has said he would spend his own money to fund his presidential campaign. So far, Trump has not contributed any money to his current White House bid. He did not contribute any of his own money to his 2020 campaign, according to NBC News.
Either way, Trump’s claim in Friday’s posts — that he does have the cash to pay the bond, but he is saving it to bankroll his campaign for president — is not one that his lawyers have made to the appeals court judges who are considering his request to pause the fraud judgment.
His lawyers claimed Monday that it was “impossible” for him to get a bond, because he does not have the cash to secure one and because no potential insurers will accept Trump’s real estate instead.
James has said she will seize Trump’s real estate assets if he can’t pay. Her office has already begun preparing to take action in Westchester County, where Trump owns several properties.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has taken the initial step toward seizing former President Donald Trump’s properties in the state following a landmark $454 million judgment, in New York, United States on March 21, 2024.
Lokman Vural Elibol | Anadolu | Getty Images
Trump asked a New York appeals court to pause the judgment without requiring him to post a bond for the full amount.
Trump Organization lawyer Alan Garten wrote that the only way Trump and his co-defendants could get an appeal bond would be to put up his properties as collateral.
Garten said they had asked more than 30 bond insurance companies to underwrite the bond, but that every one of them had said no.
Trump’s lawyers argued that while the Trumps are wealthy, they are in the real estate business, and thereby rich in property. As a result, they would need to sell or mortgage their real estate in order to secure the bond, “causing irreparable harm.”
Garten and spokespeople for the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on Trump’s social media posts.