Trump Will Pay More Than $111,000 Per Day As He Appeals Fraud Ruling

 

Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower on February 15 in New York City.

KEY FACTS

Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and companies he controls to pay $354.9 million as part of the civil fraud case—accusing Trump and his associates of misstating valuations on financial statements for personal gain—which is made up of three separate penalties for $168 million, $126.8 million and $60 million.

By the time Engoron’s formal judgment was entered on Feb. 23, Trump actually owed $454.2 million, which includes a nine percent interest rate that Engoron ruled started accruing on the fines in March 2019, May 2022 and June 2023, respectively—adding $99 million to Trump’s total.

While the interest before the judgment was entered accrued at a rate of $87,502 per day, the interest is now going up by $111,984 per day, according to the New York attorney general’s office, which is nine percent of the full $454.2 million that includes pre-judgment interest.

The nine percent rate means Trump will owe an additional $40.9 million per year, $3.4 million per month, $786,041 per week and $111,984 per day.

That interest will keep accruing until it’s paid off—even while Trump appeals the ruling, which won’t stop him from having to post an appeals bond or putting cash into a court-controlled account to cover the amount he owes plus an extra percentage for interest as it accrues.

That means as of Tuesday—four days after the formal judgment was entered on Friday, and 11 days after Engoron’s initial ruling—Trump now owes $454.6 million, according to a penalty calculator created by Associated Press journalist Mike Sislak.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

At the nine percent interest rate, Trump will owe approximately $454.9 million on Friday—two weeks after Engoron’s initial ruling—$456.6 million a month from the ruling on March 16, and $473.8 million six months out from the ruling on August 16. If Trump’s appeals process in the case keeps going on for another year, he’ll owe $494.4 million as of Feb. 16, 2025.

TANGENT

In addition to the civil fraud penalty, Trump also owes $88.3 million, plus interest, from two verdicts against him in cases brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. A jury first ordered Trump to pay $5 million in May 2023, finding him liable for defamation and sexual assault, and he was then ordered to pay another $83.3 million in January in a separate defamation trial. Trump has already put $5.5 million into a court-controlled account to cover the first verdict while he appeals it, and has not yet paid the $83.3 million award, which he’s also expected to appeal. A judge denied his request to pause that judgment over the weekend.

FORBES VALUATION

Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $2.6 billion as of September, which includes $426 million in cash and liquid assets, part of $640 million in personal assets that also include his personal homes, private aircraft, pensions and cryptocurrency holdings.

HOW WILL TRUMP PAY HIS FINES?

It remains to be seen how Trump will pay the growing fines against him, considering the amount he owes now exceeds the amount he’s estimated to have in the bank. If Trump can’t put up cash while he appeals the fraud ruling, he could also secure an appeals bond in which a third party guarantees his ability to pay—though he may have issues finding a company willing to work with him on that, experts have suggested, given the ex-president’s legal jeopardy and the issues with putting up real estate as collateral after being found to have misstated the value of his assets. He also may face issues in obtaining money because the fraud ruling bars him from applying for any loans from any financial institutions registered in New York for three years. It’s possible Trump could borrow against his mortgage-free real estate assets, which Forbes estimates are collectively worth more than $1.1 billion, and the ex-president may also be helped by the expected closure of a merger between his social media company and Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which could make Trump’s shares in the company worth as much as $4 billion. Critics of the ex-president are concerned Trump could look to a wealthy financier to help him front the money—such as Elon Musk or Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman—which could make him beholden to them should he win a second term in the White House.

BIG NUMBER

$465 million. That’s the total amount Trump and his co-defendants had to pay in the civil fraud case as of the judgment being entered on Friday, including $363.9 million they were ordered to pay and $100.7 million in pre-judgment interest, which will continue to grow. In addition to Trump’s $354.9 million fine, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were also each ordered to pay approximately $4 million plus interest, while former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has to pay $1 million plus interest.