President Trump said he has $400 million in cash. Now his lawyer says the bond is a struggle.

In a filing Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers asked for a delay and proposed posting just $100 million in bond instead of the full amount. They called the full amount a “seemingly unreasonable” judgment, adding that the conditions preventing him from obtaining the loan “make it impossible to secure and post the full deposit.”

Experts told The Washington Post that Trump would have to post the full cash or surety bond within 30 days of his conviction to avoid the fine, which will be enforced during his appeal.

An appeals judge ruled late Wednesday that Trump would still have to account for the full amount, but could still receive the loan. The appeals board will consider the case and issue its own decision on March 18th.

Before that, Trump’s team also said it was “likely” that the property would have to be sold in a way that would cause irreparable financial harm to account for the full amount.

“If the conditions outlined herein are not reserved, it is likely that the property will need to be sold to raise funds in exigent circumstances,” the application states. This means recovering any resulting economic losses from the Attorney General. ”

“No one, including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, has saved up half a billion,” Trump’s lawyer Christopher Kise added during Wednesday’s hearing. (Bezos owns the Washington Post.)

But in the exact same legal proceeding less than a year ago, President Trump suggested he had close to the amount of cash at his disposal.

In an April 2023 deposition, Trump voluntarily stated that he had “well over 400 million in cash.”

“Developers typically don’t have cash. They have assets, not cash,” President Trump said. “I think we’re over 400 and it’s growing very significantly every month.”

Trump later added that despite the legal costs, “I have over $400 in cash, pretty effectively over $400 million.” It’s just cash. It’s just cash. ”

It’s not clear whether Trump’s lawyers are saying he doesn’t actually have the money, just as it would be unrealistic to issue a full bond.

It’s also possible that President Trump’s cash flow has declined in recent months. However, he claimed that as of April 2023, there has been a significant increase.

Trump’s defense team’s argument also contradicts what one member of his defense team said last week after the verdict.

Appearing on Fox News, Trump’s lawyer Alina Haba said that he would need to post full bail, adding: “We are prepared to do that.”

“Unfortunately, they picked the wrong guy, in my opinion, because he’s strong, he’s tough and he happens to have a lot of money,” Haba added.

Mr. Haba, appearing on Newsmax, was a little less convincing on this point. When asked if Trump had “that kind of money,” Haba interjected, “Yes.” But when the moderator ended the question with the phrase “sit down,” Haba gave an even more ambiguous answer.

“I mean, he has money. Of course he has money,” Haba said. “So he’s a billionaire.”

There has been much speculation whether Trump will be able to account for the full amount, given that the inflating of Trump’s assets was well-established even before New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) filed the lawsuit in 2022. has become the subject of

Over the weekend, The Post’s Jonathan O’Connell, Shayna Jacobs and Josh Dorsey spoke about the cash crunch, saying posting the full amount could leave President Trump with no way to issue bonds. President Trump faces a similar situation over the $83.3 million judgment against him in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.

Mr. James wrote Wednesday that Mr. Trump’s request shows that his lawyers “mostly acknowledge that Mr. Trump does not have sufficient liquid assets to satisfy the judgment.”