Donald Trump is facing a pair of major legal verdicts in New York that risk wiping out most — if not all — of the cash the billionaire says he has on hand, a potential blow to the presidential candidate whose persona is tied up with financial success and wealth.
Trump on Friday was ordered by a jury to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in 2019 when he denied her sexual-assault allegation. On top of that, a verdict is expected this week in New York’s civil fraud trial, which seeks the return of $370 million in “illegal profits” Trump allegedly made by lying to banks about his wealth to get better terms on loans.
In a deposition last year, Trump described his stockpile of cash as being “substantially in excess” of $400 million. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index placed his liquid assets at about $600 million, though Trump’s exact financial status remains famously opaque.
Trump has already filed for bankruptcy six times.
If he were to do so again now, the real question is whether either of these recent judgements are dischargeable under state law (while bankruptcy in the US is primarily controlled by a set of federal laws, the actual terms and conditions for what can be discharged, excluded, or must be liquidated in each case fall to the states to define).
EDITED TO ADD: I forgot about this when I was first writing my comment, but given the recent NY special monitor’s report flagging dishonesties and possible tax evasion in the business fraud trial, I think at this point Trump would also have significant problems with bankruptcy at this time. Especially with fraudulent transfer and other patterns of financial deception, not to mention him also needing to place the Carroll judgement amount in escrow with the court (or provide an equal bond) if he wants to appeal, and he desperately wants to appeal. I am not an attorney so I don’t know the particulars, esp for NY state, but all of these are potential problems with bankruptcy relief for our wannabe dictator.