Donald Trump's earlier remarks on his wealth have come under scrutiny and widespread mockery after his attorneys stated that he does not have the funds to pay the penalty associated with a recent court judgment. The lawyers said that he is having "insurmountable difficulties" getting a bond to pay the $ 464 million civil fraud case.
Judge Arthur Engoron found Mr Trump guilty in February of using fraudulent financial statements to conduct a decade's worth of business, exaggerating his real estate holdings and inflating his wealth. As a result, he was ordered to pay $464 million in disgorgement and interest, as per a report in ABC News. The judge ordered the 45th US President to pay $355 million plus interest while his sons Eric and Don Jr were told to hand over more than $4 million each. According to the lawyers, the punishment was too harsh and "enforcing an impossible bond requirement as a condition of appeal would inflict manifest irreparable injury on defendants."
This comes only two weeks after Mr Trump, whose net worth was assessed by Forbes to be around $2.6 million in September 2023, told Fox News, "I'm really wealthy. I'm free to act whatever I like." Additionally, Trump said that he doesn't "worry" about money or anything else.
This development has caused a huge uproar on social media with many criticising comments regarding his net worth.
"Anyone else find it odd that Donald Trump testified (and affirmed with banks) that he had a liquid net worth close to $1B but now can't afford bond for half of that?" said a user.
Another wrote, "On the bright side for Donald Trump, it looks like he won't be impacted by President Biden's proposed billionaires tax."
"Self-described billionaire Trump hits a cash-flow problem," said a person.
A person said, "Great news, he'll have no money for the election"
"That's not what he said in the hall when he came out and talked at the fraud trial he said 'money is not a problem'," wrote a person.
"I thought he was a billionaire? So is he lying to the public or the Court?" added an X user.
