In a significant financial challenge, Donald Trump is faced with the daunting task of gathering the necessary funds to settle an outstanding debt of nearly $454 million. This predicament leaves him with a few critical choices: he could either pay the sum from his resources, seek assistance from a wealthy supporter, or confront the possibility of declaring bankruptcy.
This financial dilemma stems from a ruling by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron on February 16, which concluded that Trump must pay a substantial amount in damages. This verdict came as a result of Trump losing a comprehensive civil fraud case.
Engoron found that Trump had exaggerated the value of his assets to obtain favorable deals and loans, which facilitated the expansion of his real estate empire and supported his role in a television series. Despite this setback, Trump has maintained that he is the victim of persecution and has announced his intention to challenge the ruling.
But whatever he does, he can’t dodge it.
“It could also prompt him to file for personal bankruptcy because, again, in this order, Donald Trump and the business entities that were found liable, are jointly and severally liable,” said former litigator Lisa Rubin while being interviewed on MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight.” “That means that any one of them can be liable for the whole of the judgment attributed to them and that also means that Donald Trump can’t escape this just by plunging those business entities themselves into bankruptcy, because that would leave him individually on the hook for the totality of it.
In response to the court’s decision, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who initiated the civil suit against the former president, has stated her intention to confiscate some of Trump’s prized assets should he fail to make the payment. An additional hurdle for Trump is the prohibition against obtaining funds from financial institutions that are registered or chartered in New York State.
However, according to Rubin, this restriction does not preclude Trump from seeking financial support from a wide array of sources outside the New York State-chartered institutions. This includes affluent individuals and even foreign nations that might be willing to provide financial rescue.
The complexity of the situation is compounded by the potential difficulty in tracking whether any external party provides financial assistance to Trump. This uncertainty adds another layer of intrigue to Trump’s ongoing efforts to navigate through his current financial straits.
“I asked the Attorney General’s office early this week, ‘Would we know, as the public, who loans following Trump this money to him? Would you even know, as the Attorney General’s office?’ And I believe the answer was, ‘We are not clear on that.'”
