Former president Donald Trump posted a $175 million bond for his New York State civil fraud case Monday evening through an insurance company.
Trump posted the bond backed by the California-based Knight Speciality Insurance Company, kick-starting the appeals process against the $355 million civil fraud judgment imposed by New York judge Arthur Engoron last month. Trump is on the hook for more than $450 million because he is mandated to pay interest on top of Engoron’s judgment.
Last week, an appellate court granted Trump a ten-day extension to pay the reduced $175 million bond after it appeared that Trump would not be able to post the original bond on time. His social-media company Truth Social went public on Tuesday, and shares immediately soared, giving Trump a multibillion-dollar boost to his net worth, despite the company’s poor financials. Shares of Truth Social dropped on Monday with the release of its latest financial statement.
Truth Social’s debut on the Nasdaq exchange last week happened after the company finalized its $300 million merger with Digitial World Acquisition Corporation, a shell company designed to merge with Truth Social. Trump’s stake in the company is worth roughly $3 billion.
“As promised, President Trump has posted bond,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said Monday in a statement on X. “He looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict.”
“Bond filed. We look forward to vindicating our rights on appeal,” Trump’s son Eric, a top executive overseeing his business empire, said on X.
At the same time, Manhattan judge Juan Merchan expanded his gag order against Trump on Monday night to prevent Trump from criticizing the judge’s relatives after Trump went after them online. Merchan is overseeing the criminal case brought against Trump in Manhattan related to the “hush money” payment sent by his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Daniels has alleged that she and Trump had an extramarital affair, a claim the former president denies.
Merchan issued his initial gag order on March 26 ahead of Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business records connected to the payment to Daniels. The initial gag order prevented Trump from criticizing potential witnesses and jurors in the upcoming case, with jury selection set to begin on April 15.
“The average observer, must now, after hearing Defendant’s recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well,” Merchan wrote. His daughter, Loren Merchan, is a Democratic political consultant whose clients have raised millions off the Trump case, the New York Post reported.
Trump’s attorneys argued for his right to criticize Merchan and his family because it constitutes political speech, according to NBC News. The former president suggested last week that Merchan’s daughter seeks to have him jailed and falsely attributed to her an anti-Trump social-media account with an image of him behind bars.
Trump is the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee and frequently criticizes the prosecutors pursuing criminal cases against him. The expanded order also prevents Trump from attacking the relatives of Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg.