Of course, no one will lend Donald Trump the $500 million he needs to appeal his fraud case. Would you do that?
The former president has racked up costly legal judgments in recent months for a number of misdeeds. And when I say “expensive,” I mean a little more expensive than Trump-branded gold sneakers. In fact, if you combine all the decisions in all of Trump's cases to date, he already owes more than the gross domestic product of several island nations combined.
The most expensive lawsuit found Trump liable for lying about the value of real estate assets to get better terms on loans and insurance. The judgment means he owes $464 million, not including interest. He is appealing the lawsuit brought by the New York State Attorney General. The judge, however, said Trump would have to post cash or bond to prove he was worth the money, and that he would not sue by simply delaying payments for a while.
Trump comes up with the material despite boasting about his deep pockets, even saying in a deposition last year that he “effectively has over $400 million in cash.” I've been struggling with it. So he tried to get out of there. First, his lawyers asked for a $100 million bond instead. After all, Trump treats every bill he receives, even if it's a court ruling, as just an initial proposal.
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Then, on Monday, his attorney returned and complained that no one would agree to post bond on his behalf. Hired to help secure bond packages, the firm contacted “nearly every major surety in the market” and spent “countless hours negotiating with one of the world's largest insurance companies.” I spent a lot of money,” he said. Lawyers said a key challenge is that Trump wants to use his real estate as collateral for the bond, and no major surety companies will underwrite it.
Understood? Mr. Trump owes this money because he fraudulently misrepresented the value of his assets, and now it appears no one will accept those assets as collateral. Oops.
Let's say you sell a glass engagement ring to someone claiming it's a real diamond. Later, when the judge found you responsible for the fraud, you attempted to use the “diamond ring” as collateral for your appeal bond. It's that level of stupidity that we're dealing with here.
There are other reasons why companies don't want to accept his real estate as collateral. In some cases, the property may already be heavily indebted, meaning that in the event of a foreclosure, the bond issuer would be in second, third, or fourth place. . (On a different note, it would have helped him if he had known who he owed money to when he was president, and even if he hadn't, he could have run for president again.) It should also be useful when doing so.)
Also, let me be clear: the problem is not simply that no guarantor will come up with the full $500 million. Mr. Trump could ask different insurance companies to lend a portion of the money, each assuming a portion of the risk. According to an affidavit filed by the lawyers, the guarantor would not do such a thing.
Even if there were no problems with President Trump's collateral, there is more than enough caution in lending to President Trump. President Trump has an extensive history of not paying his bills, including cabinet makers hired by casinos and major banks financing skyscrapers. In fact, he often brags about not paying his bills.
Again, he treats all invoices, signed contracts as just an initial offer.
Further, imagine lending Trump millions of dollars and then he gets elected president again. This makes collection virtually impossible. If you try to collect, Mr. Trump will likely have little qualms about calling you to the Justice Department or the Treasury Department.
How do we know? Because he did exactly this the last time he was president. He used state power as a weapon against much smaller violations. For example, his administration launched bogus antitrust investigations into auto companies that did not support his fuel economy standards. Former chief of staff John Kelly also said in his sworn statement that President Trump tried to order the Internal Revenue Service to investigate his perceived enemies. Just recently, Trump himself announced (on TV!) his intention to deploy law enforcement against his opponents if confirmed for another term.
That's the interesting thing about the rule of law. When you make it clear that you don't support the law, the people who need that protection are a little less willing to do business with you.
