A New York judge ordered Trump to pay almost $355 million Friday in the civil fraud case against the ex-president and his company—an amount that will only keep ballooning, as a nine percent interest rate on the judgment means Trump’s bill will keep ticking up by more than $87,500 per day until it’s paid.
Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower on February 15 in New York City.
Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and companies he controls to pay $354.9 million as part of the civil fraud case—accusing Trump and his associates of misstating valuations on financial statements for personal gain—which is made up of three separate penalties for $168 million, $126.8 million and $60 million.
Including interest, Trump actually owed $453.5 million as of Friday, according to the New York attorney general’s office, based on a nine percent interest rate that Engoron ruled started accruing on the fines in March 2019, May 2022 and June 2023, respectively—adding $98.6 million to the amount Trump owes.
That interest will keep accruing until it’s paid off—even if Trump appeals the ruling, which won’t stop him from having to post an appeals bond or putting cash into a court-controlled account.
The nine percent rate means Trump will owe an additional $31.9 million in interest per year, which breaks down to $2.7 million per month, $614,196 per week and $87,502 per day.
That means as of Tuesday—four days after Engoron’s ruling on Friday—Trump now owes $453.9 million, according to a penalty calculator created by Associated Press journalist Mike Sislak, adding approximately $350,000 to his total.
At the nine percent interest rate, Trump will owe approximately $454.2 million on Friday—a week after the ruling—$456 million a month from the ruling on March 16, and $469.5 million six months out from the ruling on August 16. If Trump’s appeals process in the case keeps going on for another year, he’ll owe $485.6 million as of Feb. 16, 2025.
In addition to the civil fraud penalty, Trump also owes $88.3 million, plus interest, from two verdicts against him in cases brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. A jury first ordered Trump to pay $5 million in May 2023, finding him liable for defamation and sexual assault, and he was then ordered to pay another $83.3 million in January in a separate defamation trial. Trump has already put $5.5 million into a court-controlled account to cover the first verdict while he appeals it, and has not yet paid the $83.3 million award, which he’s also expected to appeal.
Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $2.6 billion as of September, which includes $426 million in cash and liquid assets, part of $640 million in personal assets that also include his personal homes, private aircraft, pensions and cryptocurrency holdings.
It remains to be seen how Trump will pay the growing fines against him, considering the amount he owes now exceeds the amount he’s estimated to have in the bank. If Trump can’t put up cash while he appeals the fraud ruling, he could also secure an appeals bond in which a third party guarantees his ability to pay—though he may have issues finding a company willing to work with him on that, experts have suggested, given the ex-president’s legal jeopardy and the issues with putting up real estate as collateral after being found to have misstated the value of his assets. He also may face issues in obtaining money because the fraud ruling bars him from applying for any loans from any financial institutions registered in New York for three years. Critics of the ex-president are concerned Trump could look to a wealthy financier to help him front the money—such as Elon Musk or Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman—which could make him beholden to them should he win a second term in the White House.
$463.9 million. That’s the total amount Trump and his co-defendants had to pay as of Friday in the civil fraud case, according to the New York AG’s office, including $363.9 million they were ordered to pay and $100 million in pre-judgment interest, which will continue to grow. In addition to Trump’s $354.9 million fine, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were also each ordered to pay approximately $4 million plus interest, while former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has to pay $1 million plus interest.
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump, his business associates—including his sons—and his company for fraud in 2022, alleging the defendants had fraudulently inflated the value of their assets on financial statements in order to obtain more favorable business deals and reflect a higher net worth for Trump. Engoron found Trump and his co-defendants liable for fraud by misstating valuations in September before holding a monthslong trial on other allegations, including whether that fraud was committed knowingly. Trump and his co-defendants denied the allegations, arguing their valuations were correct and blaming any issues with financial statements on the accountants who prepared them, with Trump and his sons relying on accountants’ expertise to ensure the numbers were correct before they signed the documents. Engoron rejected the Trump defendants’ arguments in his ruling, finding there was “overwhelming evidence” to suggest Trump and his co-defendants knew numbers were false and writing that the defendants’ insistence their numbers were correct “borders on pathological.” In addition to the monetary payments that Engoron ordered, he also barred Trump and his sons from leading any New York companies for three years and two years, respectively, on top of other penalties like requiring an Independent Monitor and Director of Compliance to oversee the Trump Organization’s operations.