Former President Donald Trump says he will challenge the judgment in his New York civil fraud trial "all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary."
“I’ll fight this all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary,” he said in an interview with Fox News, according to the conservative outlet. “They can’t take away your property before you’ve had a chance to appeal the decision of a Trump-hating, incompetent judge who has been overturned more than any judge in the state.”
Trump told Fox News that he has nearly $500 million in cash and other properties but that "doesn’t mean I’m going to give money to a rogue and incompetent judge."
Trump claimed on Truth Social earlier Friday that he has "almost" $500 million in cash, contradicting his lawyers, who said earlier this week that securing a bond for the nearly half-billion dollar judgment was "a practical impossibility."
The former president has appealed the ruling by New York Judge Arthur Engoron from February, which ordered Trump to pay more than $354 million in damages. That increased to $464 million because of interest and Trump has until Monday to post security or a bond for the award in order to get a stay while he appeals.
The move is standard procedure in New York and federal courts, and allows a defendant to appeal while ensuring the plaintiff can collect if the appeal is unsuccessful.
If Trump doesn't satisfy the bond amount by the deadline, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the fraud case against him, can start seizing his assets, including properties and bank accounts.
In order to get the case to the Supreme Court, Trump would first have to finish going through the state court appeals process. He's asked a midlevel appeals court, the state Appellate Division, to either reduce the amount of security he has to post or to stay the award with no security while he appeals. The court has yet to rule.
