This is a moment of financial truth for Donald J. Trump.
The former president, who has lost two recent civil cases, is under pressure to find enough cash to stave off enormous asset seizures while he appeals judgments against him totaling at least $537 million.
One, $454 million, was imposed by a New York State judge last month in Mr. Trump’s civil fraud trial. The other, $83.3 million, was awarded in January by a federal jury in a defamation case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll.
Mr. Trump has long bragged he is a billionaire many times over. While much of his wealth is tied up in real estate, he testified under oath less than a year ago that he had “substantially in excess of $400 million in cash.” And after last month’s verdict, Alina Habba, one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, said that he is worth “billions and billions and billions of dollars” and “happens to have a lot of cash.”
But a filing Wednesday by Ms. Habba and other lawyers raised questions about just how liquid he actually is. They offered a New York appeals court a bond of only $100 million while he appeals. Mr. Trump’s lawyers said that to secure the full $454 million set by Justice Arthur F. Engoron, he would probably need to sell properties.
Unless the appeals court cuts him a break, in each case Mr. Trump would have to post cash or a bond in the full amount, plus an additional percentage to account for interest. If he fails, the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, who brought the fraud cause, has warned she will move quickly to seize some of his buildings.
How much cash does Mr. Trump have?
Mr. Trump has been exaggerating his net worth for decades and his company, the Trump Organization, is privately held. That means it is not subject to the same scrutiny as public corporations like Apple or Microsoft.
