Trump has ‘no problem’ testifying in hush money trial after win in bond ruling: Live

Today was supposed to be the first trial date of his hush money case in Manhattan — launching the first criminal trial against any current or former president. It was also the deadline for Mr Trump to post the $464m bond from the civil fraud judgment against him.

Neither of these things happened, however.

Instead of starting the trial, the judge in the case held a hearing determining a new trial date of 15 April.

Part way through this morning’s hearing, in a separate court, a panel of state Appellate Division judges granted Mr Trump a 10-day period in which he can secure $175m bond, slashing the price tag.

Mr Trump said at a press conference after the hearing: “We’ll put up securities, cash, or bond, whatever it is, very quickly.”

When asked a reporter asked if he should have an acquittal in the hush money trial, he said, “I shouldn’t have a trial.” When the reporter said he was having a trial, he replied, “I don’t know if we’re having one,” adding that he plans to appeal.

He also added that he would have “no problem testifying” at the trial because he “didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ms James first brought her civil case against the Trump Organization in September 2022, suing Donald Trump, his three oldest children Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump (who was later excluded), former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, former controller Jeffrey McConney and ten related companies alleging that they had engaged in financial fraud by habitually misrepresenting their property values to potential lenders and tax officials for monetary gain.

Judge Engoron duly presided over an 11-week jury trial between October and December after which the defendants were found liable for fraud and ordered to disgorge their ill-gotten gains.

The judge issued a 92-page ruling on 16 February siding with Ms James in which he found that the “defendants failed to accept responsibility or to impose internal controls to prevent future recurrences” and accused them of having “submitted blatantly false financial data” so as to “borrow more and at lower rates”.

In addition to ordering the massive repayment, he barred Mr Trump from running a business in New York for three years and his sons for two years.

Donald Trump has called on Israel to “finish up” its war in Gaza because it is losing support around the world.

In an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, the former president said he had watched images of bombs being dropped on residential buildings in Gaza every night, calling it a “big mistake”.

“You have to finish up your war … You gotta get it done. And I am sure you will do that. And we gotta get to peace, we can’t have this going on. And I will say, Israel has to be very careful, because you’re losing a lot of the world, you’re losing a lot of support,” he told the newspaper.

Here is the full story…

Donald Trump has been granted a sudden reprieve from his struggle to secure the $464m bond needed for his civil fraud judgement in New York after a panel of state Appellate Division judges gave him a 10-day extension to pay just $175m of the total judgement.

Last month, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Mr Trump to pay around $354m in fines and a further $110m plus in interest for misrepresenting the value of Trump Organization assets between 2011 and 2021 in order to obtain favourable loans from banks and insurers.

The luxury property tycoon turned Republican president then had until Monday 25 March to find the money if he wished to appeal the ruling, inspiring real fears he could be about to lose some of his most prized real estate assets.

Mr Trump, no doubt breathing a huge sigh of relief, has since pledged to pay up and “post either a bond, equivalent securities or cash” but, if he fails to do so, New York attorney general Letitia James is entitled to begin freezing his bank accounts and seizing his real estate assets.

One on her list could be Mr Trump’s famed Trump Tower – the Fifth Avenue skyscraper that has been integral to the businessman’s glitzy personal brand for several decades.

Joe Sommerlad breaks down the all the historic moments that Trump Tower has seen…

Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed that he is worth several billions of dollars, with much of that value tied up in the Trump Organization and his brand-building real estate holdings.

Before today’s deadline to post a mammoth appeals bond to prevent the state from enforcing a nearly half a billion dollar judgment, the former president declared in an all-caps post on his Truth Social that he obtained “almost” $500m “through hard work, talent and luck.”

That “substantial amount” was intended for his presidential campaign, he said on Friday.

In reality, the Republican Party’s nominee for the presidency – who now appears to be facing a financial crisis while relying on political action committees and the party itself to pay his mounting legal bills – likely has far less money available to him.

Mr Trump amended this claim on 25 Monday after the hush money trial date was set and an appeals court granted him 10 days to pay a reduced $175m. He told a crowd at 40 Wall Street, “I would also like to use some of my cash to get elected.”

“Now that the bonds have been reduced, will you start putting money into your campaign,” one reporter asked, to which Mr Trump replied, “Yeah, yeah. I mean first of all, it’s none of your business, frankly.”

He added that if he has to pay $500m on a bond, “I wouldn’t have that option, I’d have to start selling things.”

Here is the full story…

New York Justice Juan Merchan grew increasingly frustrated by his attorneys’ misconduct allegations against the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for the production of thousands of pages of documents surrounding Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s former attorney and a key witness in the case.

“What I’m seeing is, to me, what has become a pattern,” the judge told Mr Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche before a morning break.

“I hear certain information, I see certain information … Your interpretation of that is really different from my interpretation,” he added. “It’s frankly been going on for months. You just heard one set of facts and interpreted that as the People not doing anything … It’s really… it’s odd that we’re even here.”

Earlier, the judge scolded Mr Blanche for apparently failing to cite any prior cases to explain how, exactly, the district attorney’s office failed its discovery obligations under state law.

Alex Woodward reports from the courtroom…

Should Mr Trump come up short today, Ms James has the authority to begin seizing his assets, including some of his properties, with a view to selling them on to make up the total owed.

The state attorney general had the power under New York to enforce the judgement as soon as it was issued in February but Mr Trump was granted a 30-day grace period, which is now about to expire.

Should she seek to seize his bank accounts, the process will first involve her sending out restraining notices to banks and brokerage firms ordering the freezing of his accounts. She would also need a court order to be able to accesss the money.

Ms James could also seize his property including his namesake Trump Tower.

Her office has already started taking steps toward recovering some of the former president’s assets. In filings dated 7 March, her office entered the judgement with the county clerk’s office in New York’s Westchester County – home to Mr Trump’s Seven Springs estate and his Trump National Golf Club Westchester. Entering a judgement indicates that her office is beginning the process of taking possession of Mr Trump’s properties.

When asked about whether he would testify in the hush money trial, Mr Trump first said, “I don’t know if you’re going to have a trial. I don’t know if you’ll be able to have a trial in the middle of an election,” he said.

He added that he would have “no problem testifying.” He said, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

The former president noted that it could make him “more popular” if he’s convicted because the people know that the “Biden trial” is a “scam.”