Trump recently posted a $US91.6 million bond to postpone payment of a verdict in his defamation loss to the writer E. Jean Carroll. He’s also appealing that verdict. The bond was underwritten by a subsidiary of a large insurer, Chubb Ltd. No details were made public about what Trump posted as collateral. In court filings, Trump has flagged New York real estate he owns, including 40 Wall Street, Trump Tower, Trump National Golf Club Hudson Valley and Trump Park Avenue, as properties he could tap to settle the Carroll verdict. Chubb, presumably, was satisfied that it could seize such assets should it need to.

But bond underwriters balked at sponsoring Trump for the $US454 million fraud verdict. Trump’s court filing Monday said that the developer had approached 30 companies to secure a bond but that he came up empty-handed. He asked that the amount he is required to be lowered or eliminated. Otherwise, he allowed, he would have to engage in a “fire sale” of some of his properties to satisfy the payment.

Trump, who has routinely inflated the value of what he owns, has a net worth of about $US3.1 billion, according to Bloomberg News. Most of this is tied up in illiquid real estate holdings, particularly urban properties already stressed by the post-Covid flight of occupants away from downtown neighbourhoods. He has also always been fond of borrowing heavily against his assets, so it’s never entirely clear how much debt he’s carrying at any given time.

This would be a perilous state of financial affairs for anyone contending with just one large court judgment. But Trump is facing four other prosecutions. Potential lenders or buyers are well aware of Trump’s travails, meaning that he is unlikely to get favourable terms or top dollar when he approaches them with his hand out.

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The complexity of the Trump Organisation will also get in the way. A skein of about 415 shell companies and other operating entities exist under the Trump Organisation’s corporate umbrella, though only about 70 actually generate revenue. Trump’s name is also on buildings that others own.

So the going is likely to get rough for Trump as this plays out, and he’s likely to become more financially desperate with each passing day. That’s going to make him easy prey for interested lenders — and an easy mark for overseas interests eager to influence US policy.

Bloomberg

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