Trump claims to have $500M in cash as he races to secure bond

Former President Donald Trump said Friday the New York courts are trying to take nearly a half-billion dollars in cash that he stored away for his presidential campaign.

Mr. Trump made the wealth claim on Truth Social, days after his lawyers said the former president couldn't satisfy a $464 million bond while he appeals a business-fraud judgment against him.

“Through hard work, talent, and luck, I currently have almost five hundred million dollars in cash, a substantial amount of which I intended to use in my campaign for president,” Mr. Trump wrote, using all-caps for emphasis. “The often overturned political hack judge on the rigged and corrupt A.G. case, where I have done nothing wrong, knew this, wanted to take it away from me, and that’s where and why he came up with the shocking number.”

In a separate post, he said the judgment amounted to a “taking” that is performed in communist countries.

Mr. Trump raged at Judge Arthur Engoron as he faced a Monday deadline to satisfy the bond or face collection actions by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Ms. James has signaled she will use every lever she can to collect the judgment, including the seizure of Trump-owned properties such as 40 Wall Street in Manhattan.

Mr. Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is in this predicament after Judge Engoron ruled Mr. Trump, his eldest sons and the Trump Organization issued fraudulent financial statements to gain favorable terms on loans and insurance.

The former president's new posts suggest he has enough cash to satisfy a bond. Yet his lawyers told the court on Monday they spoke to dozens of surety companies and couldn't come up with the money they needed to stave off collection on the judgment during an appeal.

Mr. Trump may see a windfall from an unlikely source — a merger between Truth Social’s parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group, and a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, known as Digital World Acquisition Corp.

Shareholders will vote on the merger on Friday.

Mr. Trump would own up to 69% of the shares of the new parent company. The shares could be worth nearly $4 billion, though experts say the shares’ values may be inflated — akin to "meme stocks" that generate buzz but don't have reliable value.

Importantly, Mr. Trump and other Trump Media shareholders are subject to a lockup provision that prevents them from selling their shares for six months.

It is unclear if Mr. Trump could secure a waiver from the lockup provision, or attempt to apply any profits from the merger toward a bond.