Donald Trump cannot afford to post an appeal bond covering the $456 million he now owes New York state from last month’s civil fraud judgment, his lawyers said in a court filing Monday.
Footing the full amount in time to meet a March 18 deadline “is a practical impossibility,” despite “Defendants’ ongoing diligent efforts,” they wrote the massive, 4,919-page filing.
Trump is asking an appellate panel in Manhattan to postpone, or “stay,” the judgment while he appeals.
He’s planning on winning the appeal, he argues, at which point he would owe the state nothing, or at least less.
Surety experts have told Business Insider that Trump would need to set aside $500 million in cash to secure the bond he needs. The actual amount he’d need to set aside is far higher, the filing says.
Trump has approached “about 30 surety companies through 4 separate brokers,” it says.
“A bond requirement of this enormous magnitude — effectively requiring cash reserves approaching $1 billion, is unprecedented for a private company,” it says.
“Enforcing an impossible bond requirement as a condition of appeal would inflict manifest irreparable injury on Defendants,” meaning Trump, who bears the brunt of the judgment, along with his two eldest sons and former CFO Allen Weisselberg, who were hit with seven-figure judgments.
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