New York court to hear Trump’s appeal of $454M civil fraud judgment

The fortune former President Trump rode to fame and, later, to the White House will be on the line Thursday when a New York appeals court weighs whether a multimillion-dollar judgment against him and his business empire can stand.  

A five-judge panel will hear arguments in Trump’s appeal of the $464 million, plus interest, judgment against him and top Trump Organization executives in a civil fraud case brought by the New York attorney general’s office. 

It’s unlikely the panel will reach a decision before Election Day, but a ruling adverse to Trump would further fracture his savvy-businessman persona and drain his personal coffers. 

In fact, while waiting for the state’s midlevel appeals court to take up the case, the $454 million Trump alone was ordered to pay has already ballooned by $24.1 million in interest. 

Each day since February, when a judge ruled he conspired with Trump Organization executives to falsely alter his net worth on key financial statements to reap tax and insurance benefits, that amount has crept up by $111,984 in interest — and will continue to grow at that rate until the former president pays. 

As of Wednesday, Trump owes $478.2 million. 

Trump’s attorneys are asking the panel to toss out the “erroneous” decision, reiterating arguments made at trial that banks wanted to work with the Trump Organization, did their own due diligence and found no fraud. They contend that the company’s business deals resulted in “no victims and no losses,” and instead, that Trump stands among America’s “most visionary and iconic real estate developers.” 

“The economic aspects of this decision are a disaster for New York,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in paperwork filed with the First Judicial Department Appellate Division. “NYAG has used the statute in a way never seen before.” 

They called the case an “unauthorized, unprecedented power-grab” by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who sued Trump in 2022 for fraudulently misrepresenting the value of his assets for personal gain. Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw the case, found Trump liable for fraud before the trial began. 

Meanwhile, James’s office told the panel that “overwhelming evidence” showed Trump and his business engaged in “immense” fraud, much of which the former president’s attorneys failed to address in their brief to the court.  

“On appeal, defendants tellingly ignore almost all their deceptions,” Assistant Solicitor General Daniel Magy wrote in the 168-page filing. 

Interest will continue to pile up as the appeals court weighs both Trump’s and the state attorney general’s arguments, with a decision likely in the coming months. 

Right now, Trump’s payment — and other penalties, including a three-year ban on holding top leadership positions at any New York company — is on pause after he posted a $175 million bond earlier this year. The bond ensured that James’s office cannot collect the massive judgment during the appeal. 

But if the panel’s ruling is unfavorable to Trump, interest would continue to mount during an appeal to the state’s highest court. If he loses there, he’ll be forced to pay up. 

The same is true for the Trump Organization executives who were found liable for fraud alongside Trump. Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, were ordered to pay about $4.7 million each and blocked from serving in leadership roles for two years.  

Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, faced a financial penalty of roughly $1.1 million — on top of a lifetime ban on serving in the financial control function of any New York company that was also applied to the business’s ex-controller, Jeffrey McConney. 

Since Engoron’s February judgment, the Trump brothers have amassed an additional $247,000 in interest each, and Weisselberg’s penalty has grown by more than $58,000. 

It’s not clear how Trump intends to pay the judgment if that time comes.  

Trump’s bond was initially set at the full judgment amount, but his lawyers said it would be “impossible” to secure a full bond. The appeals court then agreed to lower the amount. 

In addition to Trump’s civil fraud judgment, he owes writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million, plus interest, for defaming her in 2019, when he denied her accusation that he sexually assaulted her decades earlier, on top of $5 million in a separate lawsuit by Carroll. 

Though the former president’s net worth is famously obscure, Forbes estimates he is worth $3.7 billion, with most of his wealth stemming from his stake in Truth Social parent company Trump Media and Technology Group, followed by his real estate holdings.  

However, only approximately $413 million is made up of liquid assets or cash and personal assets, according to Forbes. Trump told lawyers with the New York attorney general’s office last year he has “substantially in excess of $400 million in cash.” 

Those funds would be used to pay the judgment against Trump should he lose on appeal — but they still fall millions of dollars short.