Donald Trump has faced his fair share of civil trials over the last several years, and has had to pay damages to various people and entities when he’s lost. In New York, the former President has now been found liable for defrauding the state and ordered to pay a hefty amount of money.
Lost Cases in New York
The civil fraud trial is not the only case that Trump has lost in the state of New York this year. Last month, the former president was found liable for defamation against E. Jean Carroll for a second time, and ordered to pay almost $84 million.
This penalty far outreaches the amount that Trump was first ordered to pay Carroll when he was first found liable for having sexually assaulted her. The first case resulted in a mere $5 million in damages that the judge ordered Carroll to be paid, but the former president was charged with defamation again when he took to the internet to complain about the results of the trial.
A Second Judgment to Miss Carroll
The second judgment in favor of Carroll saw Trump ordered to pay more than $80 million in damages to the author. Trump appeared to have learned his lesson regarding Carroll and her litigious nature after the second judgment, and hasn’t spoken out against her in the weeks since.
Now, though, new damages have been ordered by Judge Arthur Engoron in a different New York case. Trump and his co-defendants have been ordered to pay more than $350 million in damages to the state of New York in a trial that found Trump, his family and employees, and the Trump organization, liable for fraudulently inflating property values to Trump’s benefit.
First Charged in 2023
Trump was first charged with civil fraud charges early in 2023, when Attorney General Leticia James asserted that Trump, his family, and the Trump organization had engaged in a multi-year scheme to inflate Trump’s asset valuation.
The purpose of the asset inflation was, ultimately, to get Trump better terms on loans, or to save money when filing taxes. The allegation asserted that the Trump organization scheme ran from 2014 to 2021, at which point the attorney general’s office began their investigation.
Trump and the Organization Found Liable
Trump was found liable for the charges in Fall of 2023, in a pretrial hearing. Judge Engoron thereafter canceled the business certificates of the Trump Organization, as well as any business certificates that were owned or controlled by Trump, his adult sons, Allen Weisselberg, or Jeffrey McConney.
This ruling was a significant blow to Trump, who has made his business and political name out of being a very wealthy and successful businessman. Being found liable for fraud and banned from operating businesses in the state of New York was an immediate blow to his reputation, and Trump was, understandably, unhappy about it.
Damages Needed to be Ascertained
Unfortunately for Trump, that was not the end of the matter either. Judge Engoron and a jury then conducted interviews with witnesses in the case to determine how high of damages needed to be paid, in order to recoup the loss that the state of New York suffered.
Trump and his adult sons were all put on the stage, as well as his daughter, Ivanka, though she managed to escape being charged in the trial. The witness testimony painted an unflattering picture of the Trump family and their business practices, and many experts in law believed that Trump and his children were facing significant sanctions for the fraud.
Judgment Delayed
During the course of deliberations, it came out that Weisselberg was debating admitting to perjury for his testimony in the trial. This, necessarily, resulted in a delay to the release of damages while Judge Engoron heard out the new information.
Ultimately, though, the relief that was afforded to Trump and his co-defendants was brief. In a 92-page judgment, Judge Engoron has officially ordered Trump and his co-defendants to pay a grand total of $364 million dollars, plus interest.
Judgment Handed Down
The bulk of the damages has been ordered to be paid by Trump himself, totalling nearly $355 million. Trump’s adult sons, Eric and Don Jr., have both been ordered to pay $4 million each, and Allen Weisselberg was ordered to pay $1 million in damages.
The monetary damages are not the end of what Trump and his children need to pay, though. Trump has been banned from operating businesses in New York for a total of three years, and Eric and Don Jr. have both been penalized with a ban of 2 years each. This means that, at least for the next several years, the Trump organization is dead in the water in New York state.
More than Half a Billion in Debt
Combined with the damages that Trump has been ordered to pay in the combined E. Jean Carroll cases, the former president officially owes more than $443 million in damages in the state of New York. Unfortunately for the former president, though, that is not the end of the money that he now owes.
The damages that Trump has been ordered to pay includes the interest on the initial damages. The interest jacks up the price that he’ll have to pay, meaning that in total, Donald Trump now owes more than $500 million in civil damages.
Can Trump Pay?
Unfortunately for the former president, it’s unclear whether he has the cash on hand to be able to pay for these types of damages. Recent valuations of Trump’s cash on hand reveals that the former president has somewhere between $300 and $400 million in liquid assets, which wouldn’t cover the charges that he has been ordered to pay.
Trump has even been found to be paying for his legal fees with funds that have been raised by his super PAC organizations. A recent filing revealed that Trump used super PAC funds to pay more than $50 million in legal fees over the course of 2023, and these additional damages will do nothing to help the former president’s monetary problems.
Trump Expected to Appeal
Trump and his co-defendants are expected to appeal the ruling, but Judge Engoron was firm in his decision. One of the arguments made by Trump and his sons in the trial to determine damages was that the fraud was okay, because “everybody does it.”
Engoron argued that “everybody doing it” is even more of a reason to be vigilant, and stand for the law. Additionally, though the banks were ultimately paid back, Trump’s lower loans still affected the market and had an affect on the state of New York as a whole. Hence, the significant fine.
Trump’s Reputation as a Businessman
Whether an appeal from the Trump camp will go anywhere is uncertain. Trump is currently appealing his other damages in the E. Jean Carroll case as well, though it’s almost certain that the former president will not win that particular appeal.
Trump may even be required to file for bankruptcy protection as a result of these charges. The former president’s reputation as a successful businessman may potentially be at risk, and it’s unclear whether his inability to engage in business in New York for the next few years will affect his wealth and reputation as a whole. Only time will tell.
