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Forbes
Forbes
23 Feb 2024


New York attorney general Letitia James vowed this week to seize Donald Trump’s assets if he could not pay the roughly $450 million he now owes the state. But make no mistake: Trump’s balance sheet is strong enough for him to pay his penalties—without selling a thing.

Trump, who Forbes most recently estimated to be worth $2.6 billion, owes New York State over $350 million, plus around $100 million in interest, and he owes some $88 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation verdicts against him. He has around $400 million of liquid assets on hand, so he could simply write a check to pay much of what he owes right now. To cover the rest, though, Trump, who once called himself the “king of debt,” could go another route. He could theoretically borrow money against one or more of the 27 mortgage-free properties in his portfolio, which are collectively worth more than $1.1 billion.

The most valuable asset Trump could try to wring cash from is likely Mar-a-Lago, his glitzy Palm Beach, Florida club, which Forbes recently estimated is worth just shy of $300 million. But he has a long list of other assets he could also borrow against. His ten U.S. golf courses are collectively worth over $250 million, and he just recently cleared away the remaining debt on courses in New Jersey and Virginia, leaving the entire portfolio mortgage-free. His courses in Scotland and Ireland are worth another $94 million or so.

In New York, his estimated $300 million in mortgage-free real estate includes condos in Trump Park Avenue, Trump Parc East and Trump World Tower. Then, of course, there’s his penthouse atop Trump Tower, worth an estimated $52 million, even though it’s one-third the size Trump previously claimed.

Elsewhere, Trump owns almost $200 million worth of mortgage-free properties in Las Vegas, Chicago, California, St. Martin and Virginia. Any combination of these assets could be put up as collateral to cover, or at least lessen, the amount of his cash pile he has to fork over to pay his bills.

Of course, borrowing won’t be quite as easy as it used to be for Trump. The New York judgment barred him from borrowing from any financial institution “chartered by or registered with” the state. But a friendly fellow billionaire, a bank that doesn’t do business in New York or even a foreign entity could all do the trick, especially if they’re hoping to curry favor with the former—and potentially future—president.

If he doesn’t want to tack debt onto those assets, Trump could try to sell any of them. Or, he could borrow more against some of his assets that already have debt. Meanwhile, he also has a stake in Trump Media and Technology Group, which operates Truth Social. That asset is currently tied up in a SPAC merger deal, but if that goes public, Trump could have even more options.

No matter what path he takes, Trump’s mounting legal judgments will shave a chunk off of his fortune. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be forced to sell—or give up—anything he doesn’t decide to.

A spokesperson for James’ office declined to comment, but pointed to an interview with ABC in which she reportedly said that whether Trump could pay was “not for her to say.” A spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.

Forbes reviewed publicly available mortgage information through Thursday. If that information was not immediately available, Forbes relied on previous reporting and public disclosures. Value estimates are based on Forbes reporting.

With additional reporting from Dan Alexander.

Here’s every mortgage-free asset Trump might be able to use as collateral

mar-a-lago-by-steve-helber-ap copy

Steve Helber/AP

Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter by Manuel Balce Ceneta-AP

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

BirgerNiss-getty-images

BirgerNiss/Getty Images

GettyImages-1233695800

AaronP/Getty Images

trump-tower-picture-alliance-getty-images

Picture Alliance/Getty Images

Trump plane by Girogio Vera-AFP-Getty Images

Girogio Vera/Getty Images