Donald Trump’s bond reduced to $175mn in civil fraud case

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A New York appeals court has reduced the size of the bond payable by Donald Trump to delay enforcement of a $464mn fraud judgment against him and his businesses to just $175mn, in a victory for the former US president who had claimed it would be “impossible” to obtain the full amount.

The ruling came as a 30-day grace period granted to Trump by Letitia James, the New York attorney-general, who brought the fraud case, was set to expire, paving the way for her office to seize Trump’s cash and properties across the US.

In an order on Monday morning, a panel of five justices at the appeals court gave Trump 10 days to find the new sum. They also agreed to delay the enforcement of non-monetary penalties imposed as part of the judgment, such as the barring of Trump and his elder sons from running a business in New York and applying for loans in the state.

But they ruled that a monitor would remain in place at the Trump Organization in the interim, as would an “independent director of compliance”.

Trump was at a separate court across the road when the order was published, attending a hearing over whether to further delay his criminal trial over the alleged cover-up of “hush money” payments to an adult film star. The judge declined to do so, setting jury selection to begin on April 15 in what will be the first criminal trial against a former US president.

In a statement on social media soon after the appeals court’s decision, Trump said he would “abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash”.

He added that it was “VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS BE RESOLVED IN ITS TOTALITY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE”.

The order provides a significant reprieve for Trump, who had been rushing to secure the cash for a bond after several insurance companies refused to accept his real estate holdings as collateral. He is facing a growing pile of legal judgments and costs as he defends against four separate criminal cases, in addition to the civil litigation, while mounting another run for the presidency in November.

Trump’s lawyers last week said his team had spent “countless hours negotiating with one of the largest insurance companies in the world” in order to secure an appeals bond for the full amount, concluding that “very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude”.

In response, the attorney-general’s office suggested that Trump could instead secure a series of smaller bonds that would cumulatively cover the judgment, and disputed the claim that the sum was the largest ever in a New York state court, pointing to a handful of penalties above $1bn.

The attorney-general’s office said in a statement that Trump was “still facing accountability for his staggering fraud”.

“The $464 million judgment — plus interest — against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands,” it said.

Trump previously managed to secure a separate appeals bond for a nearly $92mn judgment against which he is appealing, after having been found liable for defaming the writer E Jean Carroll.

That bond was underwritten by a subsidiary of the Chubb corporation.