As the Monday deadline loomed for Donald Trump’s staggering $454 million bond, an appeals court in New York gave him some very good news: A panel of five judges on the Supreme Court of New York’s Appellate Division ruled that Trump would need to post only a $175 million bond to stay the enforcement of his civil business-fraud judgment as he appeals the verdict. The court also gave Trump ten additional days to find the bond — meaning New York attorney general Letitia James cannot seize his assets on Monday, when the deadline was set to expire.
It was another close call for the former president in a season that has been defined by both his legal jeopardy and a series of timely breaks in his favor. As of Monday morning, his attorneys had maintained that he has been unable to find a company to put up the bond for him to appeal the full $454 million judgment — even though Trump claimed on Friday that he has half a billion lying around in cash. If Trump is able to post that $175 million bond next week, it will block Letitia James from seizing his assets during the appeals process, which could take several months. “I greatly respect the decision,” Trump said on Monday. “We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash.”
With banks and bond companies refusing to take Trump’s assets as collateral, a bond of $175 million is much more feasible than $454 million. Earlier this month, Trump secured a $91 million bond to appeal the judgment in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. If he doesn’t have the cash to get a $454 million bond, perhaps he can manage less than half of that sum — though it would still eat into his cash supply in a year of unfathomable legal fees.
