Trump claims he has $454m fine amount ‘in his bank account’ but plans to spend it running for president

Donald Trump claims he has nearly half a billion dollars in his bank account and that he intends to use it for his presidential election campaign, as he faces a Monday deadline to prevent his properties from being seized.

Justice Arthur Engoron in February ruled that the 45th president and his adult sons must pay in excess of $464m for grossly inflating his net worth and the value of his assets for more than a decade to obtain favourable conditions on loans.

Mr Trump must either find the cash or post a bond to prevent the state's authorities from seizing his properties while he appeals the ruling.

Earlier it appeared that the Republican presidential candidate lacked the cash and 30 surety companies were “unwilling” to use his namesake properties as collateral. His lawyers told the court it was impossible for the former president to raise that amount of money.

The companies approached “will only accept cash or cash equivalents” such as marketable securities, they said, and would typically “require collateral of approximately 120 per cent of the amount of the judgment,” which, in this case, comes to almost $560m.

However, Mr Trump on Monday claimed he was asked to pay the fine of almost half a billion dollars because the judge «saw a similar amount in his bank account», adding that he intended to «use much of that hard earned money on running for president».

«They don't want me to do that,» he lashed out on Truth Social, calling it an «election interference».

Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that the New York fraud case is a political manoeuvre designed to favour his 2024 rival Joe Biden. He has railed against the judge involved and New York attorney general Letitia James, accusing them of corruption, and