Donald Trump’s election prospects look brighter than ever before, but his financial fortunes are flailing, his niece and clinical psychologist Mary Trump said late Thursday.
Trump’s Mounting Losses: Despite Donald Trump’s Super Tuesday victory, he has been stymied by “other mounting losses,” Mary Trump said in a Substack post. At the time of the post, she noted that her uncle’s lawyers sent a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan asking for more time to pay the $83 million he owes E. Jean Carroll “or put up a $91 million cash bond to appeal the decision.”
The former president eventually posted bond for $91.6 million and appealed the verdict.
Mary Trump also noted that her uncle now only has just over two weeks to pay up the $464 million penalty related to the New York civil fraud case.
“Not only does he have fewer than three weeks to put up every single penny he owes in his New York business fraud case, but Attorney General Letitia James has signaled her willingness to seize his assets in order to satisfy the judgment,” she said.
In addition to the penalty, Donald Trump owes an additional $100 million in pre-judgment interest, starting with every transaction that was found to be fraudulent, the psychologist said. He also owes a 2% post-judgment interest rate on the entire fine, with the interest accruing since Feb. 23, the date the ruling was issued, she added.
“This means Donald is accruing approximately $87,502 in interest every single day until he coughs up the full total — a staggering $2.6 million in interest every month until he settles the fine,” Mary Trump said.
“With over half a billion dollars owed by the end of the month, it isn't a stretch to see how Donald could find himself being forced to sell off his real-estate at fire-sale prices sooner rather than later,” she added.
Mary Trump also noted that adult film star Stormy Daniels will reveal a “new critical and disturbing detail” regarding her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with the former president in a documentary premiering on Peacock on March 18.
Why It’s Important: To add fuel to fire, a U.K. court ordered Donald Trump to pay 300,000 pounds ($385,740) to Orbis Business Intelligence, a company that the former president sued after he alleged that it had made unverified and salacious allegations about him, media reports said. Orbis’ Christopher Steele had sought 444,000 pounds from Donald Trump — a portion of the 636,357 pounds legal costs Steele’s firm said it incurred.
The financial mess Donald Trump is facing is much more than he can handle, experts say. Forbes estimated that the former president’s net worth is $2.6 billion, which includes his illiquid assets. In his testimony, he said he had about $400 million in cash, reported NPR.
Once he uses up his liquid assets, Donald Trump may have to turn to his real estate and other assets, Dan Alexander, a Forbes editor who has tracked the ex-president’s wealth over the years, told NPR.
Donald Trump has tapped into the finances raised by his political action committees to foot his legal bill in the past, although the drawdowns have left his PACs with dwindling finances. Another potential funding source could be his stake in his media firm Trump Media & Technology Group, which will soon merge with publicly traded SPAC Digital World Acquisition Corp. DWAC. The former president’s stake in the combined company could be worth as much as $4 billion, although he may be constrained by a lockup period that is required for insiders.
Reports also said Donald Trump met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, among others, to seek campaign funding, although the tech billionaire said he would not donate to candidates of either party.
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