Trump claims he has $500 million in cash, undercutting lawyers’ claims on bond money

Former President Donald Trump claimed early Friday morning that he has “almost” $500 million in cash, undercutting his lawyers’ claims that he would not be able to comply with the $464 million judgment against him and his co-defendants in the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

“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 a post on Truth Social in all caps. “The often overturned political hack judge on the rigged and corrupt A.G. case, where I have done nothing wrong, knew this, wanted to take it away from me, and that’s where and why he came up with the shocking number which, coupled with his crazy interest demand, is approximately $454,000,000.”

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!”

Trump hasn’t contributed any of his own money to his presidential campaigns since 2016. He had floated in 2020 that he’d personally spend what it took to win re-election, but did not do so.

The former president must post the bond for the full amount he owes on Monday, or James can seize any of Trump’s bank accounts or properties, in any state, including Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago, among many others. His lawyers, who have appealed the judgment, said in a court filing Monday that he has been unable to secure a bond to meet it.

Trump is liable for $454 million, most of the fraud judgment, but the amount he owes has been increasing by more than $111,000 a day because of added interest.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron, who determined the amount of the judgment, issued his ruling on Feb. 23, and Trump had 30 days to hand over the cash. Trump said in another Truth Social post in all caps Friday that Engoron “came up with a crazy, out of thin air award, in order to damage me politically, and not allow me to use any of the large amount of cash I have built up over the years, through hard work, insight, instinct, and diligence, on my political campaign for president.”

“This is simply a ‘taking,'” he added. “Much like what is done in communist countries.”

Earlier this week, Trump’s presidential campaign asked his supporters for money in a fundraising memo, which said, “Insane radical Democrat AG Letitia James wants to SEIZE my properties in New York. THIS INCLUDES THE ICONIC TRUMP TOWER!”

Trump has valued his brand at over $10 billion, but a 2021 financial statement put his net worth a $4.5 billion. He has indicated most of his assets are in real estate, not cash or stock, saying at a deposition in the fraud case last year, that he had “substantially in excess of $400 million in cash.”