Trump's options to pay court fine slim as he eyes ways to avoid selling empire: columnist
Donald Trump's $83.3 million judgment in the E.Jean Carroll defamation trial — followed by a crippling $355 million in damages for his New York fraud case — has left the former president with a hefty bill of well over $400 million, not including interest.
When asked more than a year ago what kind of cash he has on hand, he told Carroll's lawyer during a deposition that he has access to about $400 million.
Writing for Forbes on Friday, Kyle Mullins took that year-old claim as gospel and suggested that Trump could easily just write a check for his fines.
But, if Trump doesn't have that cash — as legal analysts have suspected — Mullins outlined some other routes that Trump could pay his dues.
One option Mullins comes up with is that Trump owns 27 mortgage-free properties that he can borrow against. His property portfolio is collectively worth more than $1.1 billion.
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The barrier to that, however, is that the fraud ruling last week dictated that Trump can't borrow money from a bank that does business in New York.
"The New York judgment barred him from borrowing from any financial institution 'chartered by or registered with' the state," Mullins quoted from the ruling.
It leaves Trump with few banking options.
Another alternative, which legal analyst Lisa Rubin warned of, is Trump taking money from a foreign national or even another country.
"But a friendly fellow billionaire, a bank that doesn't do business in New York, or even a foreign entity could all do the trick, especially if they're hoping to curry favor with the former — and potentially future — president," wrote Mullins.
Rubin pointed out on Friday that, if another donor pays the damages, who it is will not necessarily be made public.