Trump Says He Can t Secure Bond for $454 Million Civil-Fraud Judgment – WSJ

Donald Trump s lawyers on Monday said the former president has been unable to obtain a bond to guarantee payment of a $454 million civil-fraud judgment against him, despite trying to negotiate a deal with some of the largest suretors in the world. 

In a filing to a New York appeals court, Trump said that the judgment, ordered by a state judge last month, was so large that suretors wouldn t accept real estate as collateral and would require cash to guarantee the bond. A private company like the Trump Organization would need $1 billion in cash to obtain the bond and to continue to operate, an amount the company doesn t have, the filing said. 

Defendants ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment s full amount is a practical impossibility, Trump s lawyers wrote.

The legal drama places Trump s finances and his image as a successful business tycoon in peril less than eight months before voters will decide whether to elect him for a return trip to the White House.

via www.wsj.com