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The timing couldn\u2019t be worse for Donald Trump as he faces the prospect of having to sell property to cover a massive verdict against him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The former president said in a court\u00a0filing<\/a>\u00a0Wednesday he may soon need \u201cto raise capital under exigent circumstances\u201d to push ahead with an appeal of New York state\u2019s $454 million civil fraud verdict against him. A brutal market for many commercial property owners means he faces significant losses in his real estate empire if he unloads assets.<\/p>\n The billionaire has few options. He must pay the full judgment by March 25 or arrange a bond for at least 110% of the amount in order to put the fine on hold while he appeals. To get an appeal bond, Trump will need to hand over cash, sell properties or use them as collateral, tying up most if not all of his liquid assets for months or longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unless Trump can convince the appeals court to put the verdict on hold during his entire appeal, he could find himself in a financial squeeze.<\/p>\n If he\u2019s forced to sell, \u201cthere would be no way to recover any property sold following a successful appeal and no means to recover the resulting financial losses,\u201d Trump attorney Alina Habba said in the filing. Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James has made clear that she\u2019s prepared to seize Trump\u2019s assets if he doesn\u2019t pay the verdict or post an appeals bond on time.<\/p>\n Making matters worse is a brutal market for many commercial real estate owners. Property values plunged as borrowing costs rose, and the remote work trend that started during the pandemic continues to cut into demand for office space. Prices slumped 22% in the year through January, according to real estate analytics firm Green Street.<\/p>\n Habba didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Many sellers have been forced to accept drastically lower prices.\u00a0The Aon Center<\/a>, a Los Angeles office tower, recently sold for $147.8 million, about 45% less than its previous purchase price in 2014. A Los Angeles\u00a0office building<\/a>\u00a0located near Century City and Beverly Hills sold for about 52% less than its price five years ago.<\/p>\n The Trump Organization owns or invests in multiple office towers from New York to San Francisco. One of its key Manhattan properties, 40 Wall St., was purchased by Trump in what his business hails as \u201cone of the great real estate deals of all time\u201d back in 1995. In 2015, it was valued at $540 million, according to commercial mortgage-backed securities data. That has since fallen to $270 million, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s filing with the appeals court was the first time he\u2019s hinted publicly that he may not have enough liquid assets to cover the verdict in the fraud case, where a judge ruled Feb. 16 that the former president had misled banks for years in violation of New York law. Trump also owes $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll, who won a defamation suit against him last month, making matters even worse for the presidential candidate.\u00a0<\/p>\n In testimony last year, Trump claimed to have more than $400 million in cash. While that\u2019s a hefty sum, it wouldn\u2019t be enough to cover the bonds he\u2019d need to post with the court while appealing the back-to-back verdicts.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Trump\u2019s finances could get a boost from his Trump Media & Technology Group \u2014 which operates the Truth Social platform he posts on daily. In 2021, it agreed to merge with a special purpose acquisition company called Digital World Acquisition to become a publicly traded company.<\/p>\n A frenetic rally in a stock tied to Trump Media & Technology Group has minted a nearly $4 billion windfall for Trump. But that won\u2019t help him for now. The profit is only on paper and he\u2019ll have to wait months to monetize it. If the stock stays up, he could use it replenish his coffers down the road.<\/p>\n Meanwhile on Wednesday, the co-founders of Trump\u2019s media company accused the former president of trying to water down the value of their shares. The lawsuit, filed in Delaware, could delay the merger deal even more, depriving him of billions as a fresh source of cash to pay down his verdicts.<\/p>\n Trump has proposed posting a smaller $100 million bond while he appeals the New York fraud verdict, arguing that the judgment against him was \u201cmore than adequately secured\u201d without posting a full bond to appeal. Trump said his \u201cvast ownership interests in New York real estate\u201d was sufficient to ensure he\u2019ll pay the fine if his appeal failed. After all, he argued, \u201ctrophy properties\u201d like 40 Wall Street cannot be \u201cremoved from the jurisdiction in secret.\u201d<\/p>\n In the appeals court filing, Trump\u2019s attorney said other properties could be used for collateral, including Trump Tower and Trump Park Avenue in Manhattan, his Seven Springs estate outside New York City, and Trump National Golf Club.<\/p>\n James balked at Trump\u2019s offer for a smaller bond, arguing in a letter to the appeals court that risked leaving the state empty handed if Trump\u2019s appeal failed.<\/p>\n Trump and the other defendants in the case, including his two grown sons, \u201call but concede that Mr. Trump has insufficient liquid assets to satisfy the judgment,\u201d James said in the letter. \u201cA prevailing plaintiff is entitled to have her award secured, and defendants have never demonstrated that Mr. Trump\u2019s liquid assets could satisfy the full amount of the judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n James has made clear that she\u2019s prepared to seize Trump\u2019s assets if he doesn\u2019t pay the verdict or post an appeals bond on time, mentioning 40 Wall Street explicitly as a potential target in a recent interview with ABC News. Habba, Trump\u2019s attorney, criticized those remarks in her letter to the court, accusing James of \u201cshamelessly\u201d threatening to seize Trump\u2019s assets \u201cif she is not paid quickly enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite Trump\u2019s warnings about his financial condition, an appeals court judge in Manhattan\u00a0denied<\/a>\u00a0his emergency request Wednesday for a temporary halt to enforcement of the verdict in the fraud case, at least for now.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the former president will get another shot at arguing for a delay that would last throughout his legal challenge to the civil fraud judgment. James will file a response to that request by March 11, with any response by Trump due March 18. A full appeals court panel could rule any time after that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBrutal Market<\/h3>\n
Trump SPAC Shares<\/h3>\n
\u2018Insufficient\u2019 Assets<\/h3>\n
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