On February 24, with a hint of mischief, New York prosecutor Letitia James took to the social network X once again, echoing her action from the previous day with a tweet that read: "+ $114,553.04." This is the interest accruing every day, to be added on top of the damages of 354 million dollars (327 million euros), i.e. almost half a billion dollars, that Donald Trump was ordered to pay by a New York court on Friday, February 16, for artificially inflating the value of his empire's assets. This practice enabled the Trump Organization to raise additional capital and pay less interest to its lenders.
Trump's supporters are not taking this lying down, citing the absence of a jury and the absence of a victim – Deutsche Bank, Trump's backer, did not make the complaint itself – denouncing an allegedly corrupt Democrat judge and prosecutor, and citing the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution, which states that "excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed." Some even believe that "the sentence will be reversed or reduced on appeal."
In the meantime, the Trump family is aflame, all the more so as this comes in addition to the 83.3 million dollars Trump must pay former Elle magazine journalist E. Jean Carroll, for defaming her. According to a story in the Washington Post, this ruling has shaken the former president to the core. He believes that "the judgment was so severe that the public would consider it unfair and rally in support," but, the article continues, "over and over, [Trump] returned to the penalty, livid at its size."
On Monday, February 26, Trump appealed the convictions in the Trump Organization trial, but he remains in serious financial trouble. To avoid having to pay the sums demanded pending a second judgment, he must post bail or present a guarantee for an equivalent amount within thirty days of the conviction. For the 354 million, the deadline is March 25, and Justice Arthur Engoron has already refused to extend it.
In the Carroll case, where damages are due around March 7, no delay has yet been granted despite a request from Trump's lawyers. Other appeals are pending. It looks like Trump is in the worst financial position since several of his casinos in Atlantic City, a seaside resort in New Jersey, went bankrupt in the early 1990s.
The true state of his finances remains a mystery. In April, Trump claimed in court that he had "more than 400 million dollars." And in a statement filed in August with the Office of Government Ethics, he listed hundreds of bank and investment accounts totaling between 252 million and 924 million dollars, according to a breakdown by the Washington Post.
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