A new analysis shows that Donald Trump may still be on the hook for the half a billion dollars in judgments levied against him in his civil fraud and for defamation cases.
The sums — an estimated $475 million from a ruling that Trump illegally inflated his net worth on his taxes for decades, and $88 million from defaming writer E. Jean Caroll, who he was found to have sexually abused by a jury — will be due whether or not he wins the presidential election in November.
The analysis, conducted by The Washington Examiner, claims Trump could stand to lose 15% of his supposed $4.2 billion net worth through the judgments. The truth of Trump's net worth is in doubt, however. Much of the former president’s net worth is tied up in shares of his Trump Media, the parent company of the Truth Social platform. That stock has rapidly shed value in recent months and Trump is prohibited from selling his shares before Sept. 25.
“It would be this kind of crazy thing unfolding with the lawyers collecting and trying to garner his real estate or, you know, take the classic sort of collection action against a president,” Case Western Reserve law professor Kevin McMunigal told the conservative newspaper.
Trump is currently appealing his civil fraud case in New York, having posted a massive bond of $175 million in April.
The appeals process makes a pre-election payment due date is unlikely. The Examiner notes that oral arguments are not expected in his fraud case until late September.
Once the epicenter of the formerly successful businessman’s real estate empire, New York has been one of the only municipalities to successfully hold Trump accountable for his crimes. In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records in an attempt to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels amid his first presidential campaign.
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