Trump can't post appeal bond for $454 million civil fraud case: lawyers
Donald Trump is unable to post a bond covering the full amount of his $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals, his lawyers told a New York appellate court on Monday.
In a court filing Monday, his lawyers said obtaining a bond that size is a "practical impossibility under the circumstances presented."
Here is what to know about his appeal bond and why he owes it:
Trump's appeal bond
Trump is appealing a civil fraud verdict from February in which a judge found he lied about his wealth as he grew the real estate empire that launched him to stardom and the presidency.
The appeal, though, does not automatically halt enforcement of the judgment – which requires Trump to pay $355 million in penalties. But Trump is also on the hook to pay interest on the penalties, which puts his current total owed in this case at $456.8 million.
Trump was ordered to post bond covering the full amount to pause enforcement of the judgment while he appeals, meaning he has until March 25 to either pay up or buy a bond covering the full amount.
RELATED: Donald Trump appeals $454 million judgment in New York civil fraud case
Unable to pay
Donald Trump addresses the crowd inside the Donald Trump Get Out The Vote Rally at the Forum River Center in Rome, Georgia on Saturday, March 9, 2024. Getty Images
In order to obtain a bond, Trump would be required to post collateral worth $557 million, his lawyers said.
A real estate broker enlisted by Trump to assist in obtaining a bond wrote in an affidavit filed with the court that few bonding companies will consider issuing a bond of the size required.
The remaining bonding companies will not "accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral," but "will only accept cash or cash equivalents (such as marketable securities)."
"A bond of this size is rarely, if ever, seen. In the unusual circumstance that a bond of this size is issued, it is provided to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses," the broker, Gary Giulietti, wrote.
Trump’s payout to Carroll
Meanwhile, Trump posted an appeal bond in a separate trial in which he was ordered to pay $83 million in defamation damages to writer E. Jean Carroll after being found liable for sexual abuse.
If Trump wins the Carroll appeal, the money will be returned to him. If the appeal process fails, the money will be used in the payout.
That money is in addition to the $5 million a jury earlier awarded Carroll in a related trial last year.
Trump maintains that he is worth several billion dollars and testified last year that he had about $400 million in cash, in addition to properties and other investments.
This story was reported from Detroit. FOX News and The Associated Press contributed.