DONALD Trump has been ordered to pay $354 million – plus interest – and can’t run a business in New York for three years after a stunning ruling in his civil fraud case.
The decision by Justice Arthur Engoron of the Supreme Court of New York on Friday also affects the former president’s sons, who face their own penalties for the years-long scheme.
“They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again,” the judge wrote in the ruling.
Trump was found liable for manipulating his net worth to influence investors and lenders, resulting in the $354 million penalty, which will likely grow to $453.5 million due to prejudgment interest imposed by the court.
The co-defendants are expected to pay a whopping $463.9 million total after interest, a representative for the New York attorney general said.
Trump has also been banned from running a business in the state for the next three years.
The ex-president and 2024 hopeful blasted the verdict in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Friday afternoon.
“A Crooked New York State Judge, working with a totally Corrupt Attorney General who ran on the basis of ‘I will get Trump,’ before knowing anything about me or my company, has just fined me $355 Million based on nothing other than having built a GREAT COMPANY,” Trump (@realDonaldTrump) wrote.
Trump’s financial history and investments were investigated during the trial, and many of his claims over the years concerning his extreme wealth were found to be overblown.
“[The] defendants submitted blatantly false financial data to the accountants, resulting in fraudulent financial statements,” court documents state.
Recent developments in Trump’s legal cases:
- 2/16 Trump loses his New York civil fraud case and is penalized $354 million
- 2/15 Trump lost his bid to delay his hush money trial with Stormy Daniels, which is now scheduled to begin in New York on March 25
- 2/15 Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis gave passionate testimony defending her conduct during Georgia’s investigation of election fraud after the 2020 election in hopes of staying on the case
“This Court now finds defendants liable… and limits defendants’ right to conduct business in New York for a few years,” the court wrote.
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. were both barred from serving as an officer or director of any New York company for two years and fined $4 million each for personally benefiting from the fraud.
Trump family lawyers have already said they will appeal the ruling.
Trump won’t have to pay up right away as the appeals process plays out, the Associated Press reported.
“This verdict is a manifest injustice — plain and simple,” Trump spokesperson and lawyer Alina Habba said on X after the decision.
“Given the grave stakes, we trust that the Appellate Division will overturn this egregious verdict and end this relentless persecution against my clients,” she wrote.
Trump's Legal Battles
The former president faces at least four criminal trials and 91 felony charges related to the following:
- Stormy Daniels Hush Money: Trump stands accused of falsifying business records allegedly connected to $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
- Classified Documents: Trump has been accused of mishandling classified documents after he left office and storing them at his Mar-A-Lago estate. He could face 100 years in prison if convicted.
- 2020 Election Subversion: Trump has been charged with four counts of illegally subverting the election results and the peaceful transfer of power related to his actions leading up to the January 6 riot.
- Georgia Election Interference: Trump and 18 others have been accused of attempting to alter the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia by pressuring local officials and election workers.
- Ballot Disqualification: The Supreme Court is set to rule on whether Colorado’s decision to disqualify Trump from the ballot over allegedly engaging in an “insurrection” can stand.
- New York Civil Suit: Trump stands accused of fraudulently increasing the value of his New York properties to inflate his net worth. He could be fined hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was also fined $1 million as part of the ruling.
The former president faces at least four criminal trials later this year in cases that include 91 felony charges.
Friday’s ruling was the result of a civil case brought to courts by New York Attorney General Letitia James in 2022 under a state law designed to prevent recurrent business fraud.
James accused Trump of defrauding the state and other businesses by bloating his wealth by as much as $3.6 billion in one year.
Trump purposefully used the nonexistent wealth to help secure better loans and live a lavish lifestyle he could not really afford, she said.
The court agreed.
“Donald Trump was aware of many of the key facts underpinning various material fraudulent misstatements,” Justice Engoron wrote in the decision.
James proclaimed after the ruling that “justice has been served.”
She called it “a tremendous victory for this state, this nation, and for everyone who believes that we all must play by the same rules — even former presidents.”
But many of Trump’s supporters did not think the verdict would affect Trump’s popularity amongst voters in the run-up to November’s presidential election.
Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum noted that the ruling could even have a positive affect on his campaign for 2024.
“There’s no indication in any of the polling that this has a negative impact on the Trump campaign,” she said after the ruling.
“If anything, it has a positive impact because when they see him under attack… many people feel like they understand what it’s like to be under the thumb of the government.”