A GoFundMe set up to pay for Donald Trump's civil fraud fine has surpassed $1 million in donations.
The Context
Last Friday, Elena Cardone, the wife of real estate businessman Grant Cardone, made the GoFundMe page titled "Stand with Trump; Fund the $355M Unjust Judgment" following Judge Arthur Engoron's ruling the same day that Trump will have to pay roughly $355 million in penalties for fraud.
The New York court held that Trump and top executives at The Trump Organization committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the lawsuit, said that with pre-judgment interest the penalty totals over $450 million—an amount "which will continue to increase every single day" until the judgment is paid.
Trump, Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney will also be barred from serving as officers or directors of any New York corporation or other legal entity in the state for three years. Donald Jr. and Eric Trump were ordered to each pay more than $4 million and were banned from doing business in the state for two years.
Trump's lawyers said they would appeal the judgement.
What We Know
At the time of writing on Friday morning, the fundraiser has received $1,056,808 from some 19,100 donations, a week after it was launched.
Newsweek contacted representatives for Trump by email to comment on this story.
Views
Speaking to Newsweek on Thursday, Scott Lucas, a professor in international politics at University College Dublin, said that the GoFundMe was "more symbolic than substantive."
He added: "Trump's penalty for fraud in the civil case is, with interest included, going to run to more than $450 million so $1 million is very much a drop in the punishment bucket in terms of what he's facing and of course that's on top of the $83.3 million that his been awarded to E. Jean Carroll over his sexual assault and defamation of her.
"This is more a political manipulation during an election year rather than anything which is fundamentally related to the question of whether Trump will be able to or when he will actually pay this record penalty."
What's Next?
While $1 million is a significant sum, Trump will have to raise at least $354 million more to cover the full fine. Engoron on Thursday rejected a request from the defense to delay the enforcement of penalties.
If he doesn't pay the fine, in an interview on Tuesday, James told ABC News that if Trump does not have the funds to pay the penalty, she is prepared to ask a judge to "seize his assets."
"We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers," James said.
Update, 2/23/24, 3:27 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
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Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more
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