Business

Trump Could Owe More Than $400 Million After Court Rulings This Week—Here’s What To Know About His Finances

January 31, 2024

Topline

A jury ordered former President Donald Trump to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll on Friday, ahead of an anticipated verdict in his civil fraud trial that could sentence him to pay out $370 million as soon as this week—potentially dealing a significant blow to the billionaire’s finances.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a primary election night party in Nashua, N.H. on Jan. 23.

Key Facts

Trump was ordered to pay Carroll for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of sexually assaulting her decades earlier, with a jury ruling he must pay $18.3 million in compensatory damages for the statements, plus an additional $65 million in punitive damages meant to deter him from defaming her again in the future.

New York state Judge Arthur Engoron could issue a verdict this week in the New York attorney general’s civil case accusing Trump and his business associates of fraudulently inflating valuations on financial statements for personal gain, in which attorney general Letitia James wants Engoron to order Trump and his co-defendants to pay $370 million plus interest.

Trump and the companies he controls would be on the hook for most of that payment, though approximately $10.5 million would be owed by Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. and co-defendants Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former CFO, and former controller Jeffrey McConney.

Forbes has estimated Trump’s net worth at $2.6 billion as of September 2023, much of which is based on his real estate assets through the Trump Organization.

Trump only has an estimated $426 million in cash and liquid assets that would presumably be used for his court payments, part of an estimated $640 million in personal assets that also include his personal homes, pensions, private aircraft, loans to his children and an estimated $3 million in cryptocurrency.

Trump has personally claimed to have even more money, saying in a deposition in James’ case he has “substantially in excess of $400 million in cash” and that amount is “going up very substantially every month,” and claiming on Truth Social Sunday he is “WORTH MUCH MORE THAN THE NUMBERS SHOWN ON MY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS” at issue in the fraud case.

What We Don’t Know

It’s unclear when Engoron’s verdict will be issued in the civil fraud case, though the judge has said he aims to issue a ruling by the end of January, meaning it’s likely to come out this week. Trump has repeatedly attacked the judge and accused Engoron of being biased against him, though it still remains to be seen how the judge could rule and how much Trump will be ordered to pay. James has also asked for Trump and his co-defendants to face other penalties in addition to the monetary payment, including barring Trump from the real estate industry in New York for life.

What To Watch For

Trump has vowed to appeal the jury’s verdict in the Carroll case and will likely do the same if Engoron rules against him. That may not get him out of having to pay out the money in the meantime, however, as he could have to put it in escrow while the appeals process plays out. The Carroll verdict marks the second time a jury has ordered Trump to pay money to the writer, as a jury in a separate lawsuit ordered him to pay her $5 million. That resulted in Trump putting $5.5 million into a court-controlled account while the judgment is appealed—as CNN notes court rules dictate 111% of damages awarded be put into the account while the case is appealed—which could now also happen in these cases.

Surprising Fact

Trump has relied on his leadership PAC Save America to cover most of his legal fees in the numerous ongoing cases against him, though it’s unlikely that PAC or his super PAC Make America Great Again—which isn’t supposed to coordinate directly with Trump—could cover the damages he’s now being forced to pay. Former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers told Bloomberg that Trump couldn’t use his PAC’s campaign funds to pay his fees, as there are no “exceptions that would cover a damages award for a matter not involving [Trump] as a candidate or officeholder.” While some legal experts cited by the New York Times disagreed and suggested it’s possible that Save America’s funds could be used on the damages award—and Bloomberg acknowledged that a lack of proper enforcement means Trump could try and get away with using funds even if it’s not allowed—the PAC likely doesn’t have enough money anyway. While Save America won’t report its financials from the second half of 2023 until Wednesday, the PAC reported only having a little more than $3 million in cash on hand after the first six months of 2023 after being depleted by Trump’s legal fees, and had to request a $60 million “refund” from the Make America Great Again PAC.

Key Background

Carroll’s case went to trial after the writer accused Trump in 2019 of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman’s dressing room in the 1990s, which Trump responded to at the time by denying the incident and claiming Carroll wasn’t “my type.” The writer then sued Trump in November 2019 for defamation, alleging Trump’s reaction to her allegations caused her “emotional pain and suffering at the hands of the man who raped her, as well as injury to her reputation, honor and dignity.” Her case finally went to trial in January after being slow-walked through the courts as Trump tried to claim he couldn’t be sued because he made the statements about Carroll while he was president. The trial was only to determine damages, after Carroll’s first trial against Trump already resulted in him being found liable for defamation and sexual assault. James separately sued Trump, his company and his business associates—including his sons—in 2022 for alleged fraud, claiming Trump and his co-defendants fraudulently misstated the value of their assets more than 200 times between 2011 and 2021. They did so in order to obtain more favorable business deals, James alleged, and in order to reflect a higher net worth for Trump. Engoron already found Trump and his co-defendants liable for fraud before the trial began in October, but it moved forward on other allegations, such as whether the fraud was committed knowingly, and wrapped up with closing arguments in January.