Trump claims he has $500m ‘in cash’ to fund his campaign after his lawyers said he couldn’t afford bond

Days before a deadline to block enforcement of a $454m judgment against him, Donald Trump claims he has nearly $500m “in cash” despite his own attorneys telling a New York appeals court that he can’t come up with the money.

Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed that he is worth several billions of dollars, with much of that value tied up in the Trump Organization and his brand-building real estate holdings.

Before a Monday deadline to post a mammoth appeals bond to prevent the state from enforcing a nearly half a billion dollar judgment, the former president declared in an all-caps post on his Truth Social that he obtained “almost” $500m “through hard work, talent and luck.”

That “substantial amount” was intended for his presidential campaign, he said on Friday.

In reality, the Republican Party’s nominee for the presidency – who now appears to be facing a financial crisis while relying on political action committees and the party itself to pay his mounting legal bills – likely has far less money available to him.

The former president hasn’t contributed to his own campaign since 2016.

During a taped deposition in the civil fraud case last year, Mr Trump claimed he has more than $400m in cash. His attorney Alina Habba told Newsmax last month that “of course” Mr Trump has money to pay off the judgment against him.

“He’s a billionaire,” she said.

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

Mr Trump has also netted nearly $187m from selling the lease on his Washington DC hotel and the rights to manage a New York City