Trump says it will be ‘honor’ to post $175M fraud case bond after appeals court cuts funds due from $454M

Donald Trump snagged a last-minute legal victory Monday when a state appeals court ruled he could post a drastically reduced bond of $175 million to fight the massive judgment in his civil fraud case.

The former president had been under pressure to come up with the nearly half-billion-dollar amount due Monday when he was granted the unexpected reprieve from the five-judge panel.

Had Trump failed to fork over the $454 million sum, New York Attorney General Letitia James could have moved to start seizing some of his prized properties.

The appellate court gave him another 10 days to post a bond for the lower figure — a cut of nearly 62% from the previous amount — and Trump said he could and would pay it.

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“It will be my honor to post, and we’ll post whatever is necessary, whether it be cash, security or bond,” Trump, 77, told reporters as he walked out of a Manhattan courtroom after a hearing in his separate “hush money” criminal case.

“I have a lot of cash,” he said during a press conference later at his 40 Wall St. building.

“We’ll put up cash or bond very quickly, securities, cash, or bond, whatever it is,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll put it up very quickly and we’ll win the case.”

Posting the bond would stop state officials from seizing Trump’s assets while he files an appeal of the crushing judgment issued last month by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who found Trump liable for inflating his net worth by billions to dupe banks and insurers.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee will have until September to file the appeal — making it unlikely an ultimate decision would come before the November election.

Once the bond is posted, other parts of Engoron’s judgment will also be put on hold, including the portions barring Trump, his two eldest sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and other top Trump Organization executives from running New York companies, according to the ruling from the Appellate Division, First Department.

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The appeals court also agreed to pause part of the ruling that banned Trump and his family real estate holding company from applying for loans in the Empire State.

Trump had asked the First Department to either lower the bond amount or allow him not to post one at all while he appeals the case.

His attorneys had said he couldn’t secure a $454 million bond and didn’t want to sell his properties at “fire sale” prices to come up with the funds.

James — whose office prosecuted the case — said she wouldn’t hesitate to seize his prized Big Apple buildings if Trump didn’t pony up.

The ruling from the First Department on Monday left in place Engoron’s order that an independent monitor — who’s been reviewing Trump Org practices for months — be given more oversight powers. It also left untouched the portion of the ruling requiring the company to hire a compliance officer to report to the monitor.

Trump must file all his appeals papers in time for the First Department’s fall session of oral arguments, in September, the order says.

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Engoron — who oversaw the non-jury trial for three months last year — found Trump had committed business fraud and ordered he pay the hefty penalty Feb. 16.

“We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash,” Trump, who claimed that he had “almost” $500 million in cash on hand, wrote on Truth Social after the brief ruling came down.

Trump lawyer Alina Habba lauded the decision as “monumental.”

“We are extremely pleased with the ruling issued by the Appellate Division,” Habba said in a statement. “This monumental holding reigns [sic] in Judge Engoron’s verdict, which is an affront to all Americans.”

“This is the first important step in fighting back against Letitia James and her targeted witch hunt against my client which started before she ever stepped foot in office,” Habba said.

A spokesperson in the AG’s Office said Monday that the ruling doesn’t let Trump off the hook.

“Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud,” the statement said.

“The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization,” the statement said, referring to Engoron’s ruling from before the trial finding Trump liable on one of the AG’s main fraud counts and ordering his business licenses in New York canceled.

The spokesperson also highlighted that if Trump loses the appeal of the case, he and his co-defendants will still owe $464 million and daily interest of $112,000 on top of that.

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Trump had a few options for how he could deal with the Monday deadline, including simply putting up the bond, attempting to protect his assets by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and letting the deadline lapse and allowing the AG to start going after his assets.

The 45th president either owns or has a stake in New York City buildings including Trump Tower, 40 Wall St., the Trump International Hotel and Tower, Trump Park Avenue and 1290 Avenue of the Americas.

The former commander-in-chief went on a rant on Truth Social after the appeals court ruling, again arguing that Mar-a-Lago was undervalued at trial and bringing back up bogus claims that Engoron wasn’t following an earlier First Department ruling that some of the claims against Trump’s side be tossed as barred by statutes of limitation.

Over the last 24 hours, Trump also posted a flurry of comments alleging all four criminal cases and the civil fraud case against him are part of President Biden’s alleged attempt to interfere with the 2024 election by carrying out “lawfare” against him.

In addition to the criminal and civil New York cases, Trump faces a criminal case in Georgia for alleged election fraud; a case accusing him of illegally hoarding government documents in Mar-a-Lago; and a case in Washington, DC, for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

He has maintained his innocence in all of them.