Trump threatens 'fire sale' of assets, attacks Judge Engoron over $464M bond

In Truth Social posts spanning March 18-19, 2024, as he faced a deadline to post a $464 million bond in the New York civil fraud judgment, Trump wrote he would be 'forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire Sale prices,' and said Judge Arthur Engoron was 'trying to take my Appellate Rights away from me' by setting the bond at that level. Trump's attorneys separately told the court in filings that securing a bond of that size was a 'practical impossibility,' noting more than 30 surety companies had declined to underwrite it. On March 25, a New York appellate panel reduced the bond to $175 million and granted Trump ten additional days to pay; Trump characterized the original bond on Truth Social as an attempt to 'drain' his assets and claimed the court had deliberately 'devalued' his real estate holdings. New York Attorney General Letitia James had said she was prepared to pursue asset seizure if Trump could not satisfy the judgment.

“I would be forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire Sale prices, and if and when I win the Appeal, they would be gone.” Quote verified against source