Trump granted reprieve as appeals court cuts $454M bond due Monday to $175M

US News

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By Priscilla DeGregory and Ben Kochman

Donald Trump was granted a partial reprieve as an appeals court drastically cut the $454 million bond he was required to post in his New York civil fraud case Monday — and the ex-president said it would be his “honor” to put up the lower amount.

A five-judge panel reduced the massive amount to $175 million — a cut of nearly 62% — and gave Trump 10 days to come up with the funds, according to a brief decision handed down by the Appellate Division, First Department, on Monday morning.

“It will be my honor to post, and we’ll post whatever is necessary, whether it be cash, security or bond,” Trump, 77, told reporters as he walked out of Manhattan court for a hearing in his separate “hush money” criminal case.

The embattled presumptive Republican presidential nominee had been required to fork over the money or post a bond for $454 million by Monday as he seeks to appeal the massive judgment ordered against him by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron last month.

Once Trump posts the bond, the First Department ruled to put on hold other parts of Engoron’s decision, including the portions barring Trump, his two eldest sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and other top Trump Organization executives from running New York companies.

The appeals court also paused the part of the ruling that banned Trump and his family real estate holding company from applying for loans in the Empire State.

Trump had asked the First Department to either lower the bond amount or allow him not to post one at all while he appeals the case.

“There should be no FINE,” Trump posted on Truth Social earlier Monday, repeating he “did nothing wrong!”

“Why should I be forced to sell my ‘babies’ because a CORRUPT NEW YORK JUDGE & A.G. SET A FAKE AND RIDICULOUS NUMBER.”

Trump’s attorneys had said he couldn’t secure a $454 million bond and didn’t want to sell his properties at “fire sale” prices to come up with the funds.

New York Attorney General Letitia James — whose office prosecuted the case — said she wouldn’t hesitate to seize his prized Big Apple buildings if Trump didn’t pony up.

Engoron — who oversaw the non-jury trial for three months last year — found Trump had committed business fraud and ordered he pay the hefty penalty Feb. 16.

The ruling from the First Department on Monday left in place Engoron’s order that an independent monitor — who’s been reviewing Trump Org practices for months — be given more oversight powers. It also left untouched the portion of the ruling requiring the company to hire a compliance officer to report to the monitor.

Trump must file all his appeals papers in time for the First Department’s fall session of oral arguments, in September, the order says.

“We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash,” Trump, who claimed in a post on Friday that he had “almost” $500 million in cash on hand, wrote on Truth Social after the ruling came down.

Trump lawyer Alina Habba lauded the decision as “monumental.” 

“We are extremely pleased with the ruling issued by the Appellate Division,” Habba said in a statement. “This monumental holding reigns [sic] in Judge Engoron’s verdict, which is an affront to all Americans.”

“This is the first important step in fighting back against Letitia James and her targeted witch hunt against my client which started before she ever stepped foot in office,” Habba said.

A spokesperson in the AG’s Office said Monday that the ruling doesn’t let Trump off the hook.

“Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud,” the statement said. 

“The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization,” the statement said referring to Engoron’s ruling from before the trial finding Trump liable on one of the AG’s main fraud counts and ordering his business licenses in New York canceled.

The spokesperson also highlighted that if Trump loses the appeal of the case, he and his co-defendants will still owe $464 million and daily interest of $112,000 on top of that.

“The ruling today represents a great first step towards the ultimate reversal of a baseless and reckless judgment. The First Department no doubt recognized the rule of law must triumph over the political agenda of the Attorney General,” another Trump attorney, Chris Kise, said in a statement. “President Trump looks forward to a full and fair appellate process which overturns the judgment and ends the Attorney General’s abuse of power and tyrannical pursuit of the front running candidate for President of the United States.”

Trump had a few options for how he could deal with the Monday deadline, including simply putting up the bond, attempting to protect his assets by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and letting the deadline lapse and allowing the AG to start going after his properties. But those all appeared to be moot — at least for the moment.

The 45th president either owns or has a stake in New York City buildings including Trump Tower, 40 Wall St., the Trump International Hotel and Tower, Trump Park Avenue and 1290 Avenue of the Americas.

The former commander-in-chief fired went on a rant on Truth Social after the appeals court ruling, again arguing that Mar-a-Lago was undervalued at trial and bringing back up bogus claims that Engoron wasn’t following an earlier First Department ruling that some of the claims against Trump’s side be tossed as barred by statutes of limitation.

Over the last 24 hours, Trump also posted a flurry of comments alleging all four criminal cases and the civil fraud case against him are part of President Biden’s alleged attempt to interfere with the 2024 election by carrying out “lawfare” against him.

In addition to the criminal and civil New York cases, Trump faces a criminal case in Georgia for alleged election fraud; a case accusing him of illegally hoarding government documents in Mar-a-Lago; and a case in Washington, DC, for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

He has maintained his innocence in all them.