Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to post bond while he appeals Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling that the former president has to pay roughly $454 million in penalties for fraud.
If he doesn’t come up with the money, New York Attorney General Letitia James may begin taking steps to freeze his bank accounts in order to deliver the cash or other forms of payments to her New York office.
Engoron ruled that Trump and top executives at The Trump Organization inflated the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers. The lawsuit initially sought $250 million in damages, but James later increased the amount to $370 million, plus interest.
Trump’s legal team said paying the full civil fraud penalty would be “a practical impossibility,” leading to speculation that James could soon start seizing the president’s properties or that he may be forced to sell off some of his real estate empire to pay the fine.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
However, rather than seizing properties, Trump may see luxury items like his private jet and yacht taken by authorities.
Trump has a Boeing 757 private jet that he paid $100 million for in 2011 and owns a yacht worth $115 million. Thomas Gift. who heads the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, told Newsweek that they would be “a lot easier to liquidate” than his properties.
Newsweek contacted a representative for Trump by email for comment.
“Trump’s luxury possessions would almost certainly prove a lot easier to liquidate than some of his marquee properties,” Gift said. “Whether the sum total of those items would be sufficient to raise enough funds that Trump owes the court is unclear.
“What is obvious is that if Trump is forced to sell Mar-a-Lago, especially at a fire sale price, it will create an even greater impression in the minds of MAGA voters that Trump’s political enemies are out to get him.”
Todd Landman, a professor of political science in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham, told Newsweek it is more likely liquid assets will be seized first.
“The order of priority as I understand it is to seize as much liquid asset as possible, followed by physical assets,” he said. “As we know, much of the real estate is either partially controlled by Trump or is leveraged such that any seizure would need to factor in existing loans and penalties.
“Seizure of items such as planes and luxury cars would also need to factor in whether these are owned outright or have loans behind them. Even if they are owned outright, seizure of these kind of assets would not add up to the significant amount of money required by the judgment.”
Christopher Phelps, a professor of modern American history at the University of Nottingham, said real estate would be preferable.
“Cars, planes, yachts and such property are depreciating assets,” he told Newsweek. “As most consumers recognize, the minute you drive a car off the showroom floor, it loses considerable value. So the authorities would much prefer real estate, which tends over time to hold its value and appreciate in value, despite cycles.
“With many billionaires, rare artwork would be a possibility, but let’s just say that Trump is not universally renowned as a man of aesthetic taste. The paintings he has amassed are apparently heavy on portraits of himself.”
Ahead of the deadline, Trump took to Truth Social to say that Engoron and James should not be allowed to take his assets, repeating his assertion that he had “done nothing wrong.” But he has yet to announce how his fine will be paid or what alternative action he may take.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Credit: Source link