Donald Trump is unable to pay a New York court bond to repay $454 million in fines imposed on him for financial fraud at his real estate group after he was convicted in a civil trial in February, his lawyers protested Monday.

In a nearly 5,000-page court document posted online yesterday by the appellate division of New York federal court in Manhattan, the defense for the Republican former US president argues that posting bail for the staggering amount is “virtually impossible.”

“The amount awarded, with interest, exceeds $464 million,” that is, $355 million plus $100 million in interest for Donald Trump and $8 million plus interest for his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric , and “few (insurance) companies would provide guarantee insurance of this size”, protested the lawyers, explaining that they contacted around thirty insurance companies.

This means that, in the absence of a guarantee for 100% of the fine, the appeal filed on behalf of Donald Trump in February in another jurisdiction, which does not involve a second trial, will not have a suspensive effect: the businessman and politician will therefore be obliged to pay the full fine by next Monday, March 25, or risk having his assets confiscated by the courts.

In a statement Monday night, the Republican presidential candidate denounced — what else — a “witch hunt” against him, calling the fine “unconstitutional, un-American, unprecedented and practically impossible for any business, including one as successful as mine”, to pay.

The New York Court’s Appellate Division on February 28 rejected a bid to post $100 million in bail.

The former president and his two adult sons have also appealed their bans from running any company in New York state for three and two years, respectively.

The defense in February called the amount of the fine “excessive” and the ban on the Trumps from running businesses in New York “illegal and unconstitutional.” Now, they say it is “impossible” to secure the “guarantee insurance” and make the payment in full.

In his much-lauded ruling on February 16, New York judge Arthur Engoron ordered the former president to pay a total of $354.86 million in fines for financial fraud and his two sons to pay $4 million in fines each.

New York State Attorney General Leticia James prosecuted Donald Trump in October 2022, and the civil trial of him, his sons, and the Trump Organization ran from October to January.

The tycoon, who made his fortune in real estate before upending the American political landscape and calling into question the very nature of democracy in the United States, calls this decision by the American judiciary a “fraud” and has repeatedly publicly lashed out against District Attorney James and Judge Engoron. .