It has been an eventful week, to say the least, with decisive decisions in several courts where the legal processes surrounding Donald Trump take place.
However, the week ended with a particularly dramatic announcement in a courthouse in lower Manhattan in New York.
A judge then announced, after a long wait, that Trump and his company must pay $364 million in fines, corresponding to around SEK 3.8 billion.
He is also banned from eating in New York for three years.
Not about petty cash – even for Trump
The state prosecutor had requested the equivalent of around 4 billion kroner in the civil legal process surrounding Trump’s real estate empire. That sum was based on a number of factors, such as how much financial benefit Trump is believed to have received from inflating his assets.
Even for Donald Trump – who has played up how successful and wealthy he is throughout his career – this is not about small change. It is a real financial blow – and interest is also expected to be added to the amount.
According to Forbes, Trump is estimated to be good for around the equivalent of 27 billion kroner. The estimate used during the civil legal process says that it is instead the equivalent of SEK 20 billion.
On Thursday, Trump learned that the first trial against him will begin at the end of March, when, according to the maximum sentence for the crimes, he may in theory have to pay with his freedom. But the immediate problem for him now is that the financial demands are starting to pile up.
May be allowed to give up his properties in New York
Trump was sentenced earlier this year to pay the equivalent of SEK 868 million in damages to author E. Jean Carroll for defamation.
The costs of Trump’s defense in the various processes are not a cheap story either.
How Trump is expected to pay the huge fine announced on Friday is not known – but legal experts expect that Trump will try to pay a smaller part of the amount as security to then exhaust all possible appeals.
There has been speculation that Trump’s solution may ultimately be to give up his New York properties – if he loses that fight. It also applies to the property he is best known for and where he announced his presidential candidacy in 2015 after making his entrance from the famous golden escalator of Trump Tower in Manhattan.
It would likely anger several of his supporters, who still describe it as a life-changing moment.
Trump’s presidential candidacy will not be affected
Because regardless of legal and financial problems, support for Trump and his candidacy is not expected to be affected right now ahead of the continued campaign.
Instead, his supporters are believed to see it as an escalation of what they see as politically motivated attacks on Trump – and to strengthen their conviction about who will be the next US president in November.