Donald Trump may be just hours from losing everything
Donald Trump is facing four criminal trials, each of which can put him in prison. He also just lost a civil trial that cost him $83 million. So he’s having a rough time of it. But now he’s potentially just hours away from losing everything he has.
When Trump’s New York civil fraud trial wrapped earlier this month, Judge Arthur Engoron announced that he was aiming to deliver the final verdict by January 31st. That of course would be tomorrow. Engoron hasn’t said anything about it since, which would seemingly suggest that the verdict is on still track for tomorrow. And it’s a verdict that could cost Trump every dollar he has, no matter what particular dollar amount is announced.
Remember, the judge already summarily ruled before the trial that Trump did engage in fraud. His final verdict is mainly just about pinning down the specific dollar amount that Trump is going to lose. New York AG Letitia James initially sought $250 million and then upped it to $370 million. Judge Engoron could go with either of those numbers, or $200 million, or $600 million, or any number at all, depending on his interpretation of the scope of the fraud.
But if the number ends up being any of the above, Trump is likely finished. He would need to have that much cash on hand (plus the $83 million he now owes Carroll) in order to fend off asset seizures and forfeitures and such. If Trump does get dragged into the asset seizure stage, given that he seems to be upside down on most of his properties, he’d probably end up losing everything. When you try to pull $400 million out of a financial house of cards, it’s most likely just going to collapse entirely.
Again, we don’t know for sure that Judge Engoron will hand down the ruling today. That’s just the deadline that he gave himself and said he hoped he would hit. If it doesn’t come down today, it’ll just mean that it’s a few days or a week away, or whatever the timeframe ends up being. But suffice it to say that Trump isn’t sleeping tonight. And remember, any verdict that’s even close to what Letitia James requested will likely be enough to finish Trump off entirely.
