(NationalUSNews.com) — Former President Donald Trump faces a potential cash shortage due to the various legal battles he is currently facing. Trump is subject to several ongoing legal cases, including those involving journalist E. Jean Carroll. Trump defamed Carroll in 2019 when he said that she lied about him assaulting her during the 1990s, and he defamed her again while denying the allegations in 2022. A New York City jury recently returned a verdict favoring Carroll, requiring Trump to pay the journalist $83.3 million in damages.
In 2023, a court ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in damages following a civil defamation trial originating from his 2022 defamatory statements, where the former president maintained his innocence and announced his intention to appeal the case. Trump’s various defamation cases aren’t the only civil battles involving the former president, as he’s also in the midst of a civil fraud trial for his business operations in New York City.
According to New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James, Trump and his associates intentionally misrepresented the former president’s various businesses within the state to mislead investors and consumers. According to the judge overseeing the civil fraud case, Trump also inflated the value of his various assets to gain favorable terms from insurance providers and lenders. The jury in Trump’s civil fraud trial will likely reach a verdict within the week, which could require the former president to pay even more damages, totaling approximately $370 million.
Should Trump face the maximum penalty of $450 million in damages shared across his various legal battles, the former president would lose approximately 15% of his net worth, most of which is in real estate. According to Bloomberg, Trump’s total net worth is currently around $3 billion, but the various jury verdicts could reduce his value substantially. Trump’s civil cases aren’t the only legal battles jeopardizing the former president’s financials either, as Trump is also facing several legal bills for his ongoing criminal cases.
Despite the likely decrease in net worth, Trump remains the most successful candidate for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination. According to Todd Landman, a professor of political science, Trump’s various legal penalties would only affect the former president in the short term due to his ability to market himself and his presidential campaign. Landman also said that the Trump brand is adept at recovering from unfavorable conditions, indicating that Trump’s potential $450 million in legal penalties wouldn’t hinder the GOP hopeful’s political efforts moving forward.
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