How Trump can appeal his fraud verdict – and if he can afford it

Afterlosing a sprawling civil fraud case in New York, Donald Trump faces tens of millions of dollars in financial penalties that he won’t be able to escape, even as he appeals.

The former president has 30 days from the ruling to come up with the cash or secure a bond to appeal the $364m verdict against him, a figure that is growing to nearly half a billion dollars with daily interest.

An appeal would effectively require a deposit in the form of a bond to front the costs for him. Asking for a third-party guarantee could cost him a percentage of the judgment, plus interest and fees, that he can’t recover.

And finding a company willing to take up the case for the former president – who faces a mountain of criminal and civil litigation against him, including a nearly $84m defamation ruling he is also trying to escape – could also be a challenge, and may risk wiping out a significant amount of his cash on hand.

Whichever route he ends up taking, navigating the appeals process will be a massive, financially crushing headache for Mr Trump as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination.

During a taped deposition in the case last year, Mr Trump claimed that he has more than $400m in cash available to him.

His 2021 statement of financial condition – the documents at the centre of the fraud case, and the most recent available from the trial – stated that he had roughly $294m in cash, a figure that New York Attorney General Letitia James alleges is inflated.

If he seeks a surety bond, Mr Trump could be required to show a bank’s guarantee that he can pay the money back, or post collateral that matches the size of the judgment, which could require multiple surety companies pooling their efforts to stand up a bond. They