Fraud case settlement could leave Trump facing political disaster: expert

Former President Donald Trump has already lost his civil fraud case in New York after a summary judgment passed down before the trial began — and perhaps the only way now for him to save his business empire. is to try to reach a settlement deal with Attorney General Letitia James, who is seeking hundreds of millions in fines and the dissolution of the Trump Organization.

But assuming a settlement is even possible, that would come with risks of its own, a legal expert told Newsweek — and not just financially, but politically too.

"In the event Trump is considering settlement, and thus far we have not seen any evidence of it, he would have a great many issues to consider, including how a potential settlement would affect his brand, his businesses, and real property, and what kinds of fines would be at stake," explained Paul Golden, a partner at the New York legal firm Coffey Modica.

"He would also have to consider his chances of success on appeal and, of course, we are not privy to what his counsel are telling him about that."

Trump's ongoing trial is now mainly focused on damages he and the Trump Organization must pay. On Truth Social, he has suggested several times that James has approached him with a settlement offer, though there has been no confirmation that that has happened.

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There is precedent for such a settlement, Golden noted, in the Trump University case, where Trump paid up to get rid of a fraud suit for running a fictitious school of real estate advice that bilked thousands of dollars out of victims.

However, Golden said, while "he should have some idea of how the public reacts to a settlement in the context of a case in which the underlying issue was whether he, or his enterprise, had made false claims. But it is possible the public would view a settlement of the current fraud case very differently."

The civil fraud case cuts to the core of Trump's brand as a businessman. New York attorneys argue that Trump and his two adult sons systematically inflated and deflated the value and even the square footage of their properties in order to get favorable loan and tax deals.

The trial has seen testimony ranging from the former president's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, to Trump himself, who had a confrontation with state attorneys upon taking the stand.