Donald Trump's Empire Is About to 'Implode,' Legal Analyst Warns

Legal analyst Glenn Kirschner predicted on Saturday that former President Donald Trump's "empire" is on the verge of collapse following his most recent lawsuit penalties

On February 16, New York City Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump would have to pay roughly $355 million in penalties for over-inflating the value of his assets and his own personal net worth, as part of a scheme to acquire more favorable business loans. The ruling came as the result of a civil fraud lawsuit brought against the former president, his adult sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and other figures within the Trump Organization by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The penalty amount is also set to include roughly $100 million in interest. Trump, the current GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election, has maintained his innocence throughout the case and claimed that the lawsuit was an attempt to hamper his electoral prospects.

Also, on January 26, another New York City jury ordered that the former president must pay $83.3 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll, a former Elle columnist, for statements Trump made in 2019 in which he claimed that she was lying about allegations that he sexually assaulted in a Manhattan department store changing room in the 1990s. That amount includes $7.3 million in compensatory damages, $11 million for reputational repair, and $65 million in punitive damages. A separate jury last year awarded Carroll $5 million from Trump for sexual abuse and defamation. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in those cases as well.

Amid all of these increasingly steep penalties, there has been much speculation about whether or not Trump will be able to pay these fines, given how much money he is spending on legal fees for his numerous other legal battles.

Appearing in a YouTube video alongside political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen on Saturday, Kirschner, a former assistant U.S. attorney and frequent critic of the former president, suggested that Trump's "financial empire" was in dire straits after the most recent ruling from Engoron.

"Donald Trump's financial empire, such as it is, is about to crash and burn," Kirschner said. "It doesn't look like he has the money, the cash, the assets on hand to even begin to appeal these cases, never mind satisfy these massive money judgments."

The former federal prosecutor added that Trump has roughly 30 days to pay the full amount ordered by the court or to post a significant amount of it if he intends to launch an appeal. Trump, meanwhile, has said that he intends to appeal the Carroll defamation verdicts and his civil business fraud verdict, the latter of which would require him to post an appeal bond that could be as high as 120 percent of his current verdict plus interest. CNBC noted in a Wednesday report that it's unlikely he will be able to use any of his properties for collateral to make such a bond payment.

"It looks like Donald Trump is struggling across the spectrum, in all of these case," Kirschner said. "It really does feel like Donald Trump's empire is about to implode."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office via email on Sunday morning for comment. This story will be updated at a later time with any responses that are received.

Meanwhile, Trump lawyer Alina Habba said the former president is prepared to pay the nearly $400 million bond required for him to appeal his business fraud ruling.

Speaking with Fox News' Martha MacCallum on Monday, Habba, who was Trump's lead defense lawyer in the civil fraud case, reiterated plans to appeal Engoron's decision, adding that in order to appeal it, the defense team will have to post a bond, "which is the full amount and some, and we will be prepared to do that."

Update 2/25/24, 10:09 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.