Trump claims he has nearly $500 million in cash after lawyers said he couldn’t post bond: Live updates

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.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is preparing to seize Mr Trump’s assets if he is unable to come up with the $464m bond in his Manhattan fraud trial by this Monday’s deadline.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, launched in the volatile aftermath of the January 6 attack, is headed for Wall Street as shareholders of his social media platform have voted to take the company public.

Donald Trump has sent out a panicked fundraising message to his supporters as he begs them to help foot his ballooning legal bills.

The desperate memo, titled “Keep your filthy hands off Trump Tower!”, comes as the Monday deadline to pay his $464m bond in his New York fraud trial judgement ticks ever closer.

“KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF TRUMP TOWER!” the text reads, linking to an accompanying memo that states: “Insane radical Democrat AG Letitia James wants to SEIZE my properties in New York. THIS INCLUDES THE ICONIC TRUMP TOWER!”

It continues: “Democrats think this will