Despite the fact that the amount is now being reduced significantly – how will this affect Trump?
Today’s decision by an appeals court is undoubtedly a major partial victory for Trump, but it does not mean that his problems are gone. It’s still a huge amount of money and we don’t know how Donald Trump plans to pay. It is also not known if the former president even has that much money available.
But he now gets additional time and a new chance to try to negotiate with the banks and insurance companies that previously refused to guarantee the bail amount.
At the same time, what is to be paid now is only a part of what he may owe.
Trump and his lawyers want the judge’s decision that he was guilty of inflating his assets now to be tried in a higher instance. Should he then lose, he would still have to pay the full sum of $454 million. That amount also grows, as interest is added and the total gets bigger with each passing day.
What happens now in this case?
State Attorney Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, will now have to wait before she can move forward with raising the money in other ways.
If Trump pays the amount within the next ten days, his assets are safe for now. This applies, for example, to his properties, such as Trump Tower in Manhattan or his lavish property and golf course in Westchester County in New York.
If that doesn’t happen, we can expect the state to move forward with the process.
April now looks set to be a crucial month for Donald Trump’s legal troubles. During Monday, it was also announced that the first trial against him will now begin on April 15. It concerns the case of the money paid to former porn star Stormy Daniels, to stop information about Trump from spreading.
Trump and his lawyers have unsuccessfully sought a postponement of the trial.
How do these lawsuits affect Trump’s path to becoming the Republican nominee and, by extension, his chances of winning the presidential election?
Trump continues to claim that he is the victim of political persecution – something he repeated in New York today. Both the judge who decided on the fine he would pay and the state prosecutor who prosecuted the case against him were again accused of being corrupt and politically motivated.
Many Republican voters agree with him about what he often describes as a “witch hunt” and therefore do not see the various judicial fortunes as a reason to turn their backs on him.
However, opinion polls show that a conviction in one of the trials would make some voters reconsider. In a recent Politico/Ipsos poll, one-third of unaffiliated voters said they would be less likely to support Trump if he were found guilty of the crimes.