Experts say a cash crunch in coming weeks could thrust the former president’s business into greater uncertainty than it has seen in decades
Hours after a New York judge ordered Donald Trump to pay a $355 million penalty for submitting false data to financial institutions, the former president railed against the decision during a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago Club with some of the Republican Party’s wealthiest donors.
Trump claimed at that Feb. 16 gathering that the judge in the civil fraud case had made history by ordering him to pay such a staggering sum, according to two people who were there. He suggested that the judgment was so severe that the public would consider it unfair and rally in support. Over and over, he returned to the penalty, livid at its size.
The episode offered a glimpse of Trump’s preoccupation with a legal decision that threatens his wealth and has thrust his business empire into greater uncertainty than perhaps any time since the 1990s, when his Atlantic City casinos fell into extreme debt, leading six of his companies to file for bankruptcy.
Trump, who built his business and political identities around boasts of financial savvy, now faces an immediate cash crunch of more than a half-billion dollars — the combined cost of two legal battles that will now test the limits of his personal wealth.
No, I don’t. Anybody who already supports Trump will just see him as even more of a martyr or defender of their cultish honor. Everybody else already knows he’s a fuck up and a confidence man, so this is totally on brand for him.
I’m also not convinced it will materially impact his election chances since that money is coming from PACs that are separate from his personal wealth. There is very little these civil cases are going to do to impact anything at the moment beyond putting additional pressure on him. It has always been the criminal cases that were the real concern, and his primary focus.
As I said, if he can avoid becoming a felon and win the election he will make these civil judgements disappear one way or another, and violently if necessary.
I’m not so sure.
We might find that Trumps support from wealthy donors and power brokers starts to wane.
That’s what you’re not getting. To the wealthy donors and power brokers, Trump is “their guy”. Covering his legal bills is just the price of entry. Remember: it’s a big club, and you’re not in it.