Over the years, Donald Trump has built a vast empire of prestigious golf courses that have hosted a number of top professional golf events. But a recent turn of events could cause him to lose some of those properties.
Last month, Donald Trump was hit with a $454 million judgment, which has ballooned to more than $464 million due to interest, in a New York civil fraud trial after he was found to have fraudulently inflated the value of his assets and properties – including many of his prestigious golf courses – in order to obtain more favorable loan and insurance rates.
After the ruling, Trump has been unable to secure a bond to cover the $464 million sum while he appeals, which would put him on the hook for the entire sum himself – an amount of money he openly admits will not be easy for him to put together.
In order to come up with this amount of money, Trump claims that he would be “forced to mortgage or sell” some of his assets – possibly including his golf courses – at what could be “Fire Sale prices.”
“Judge Engoron actually wants me to put up Hundreds of Millions of Dollars for the Right to Appeal his ridiculous decision. In other words, he is trying to take my Appellate Rights away from me when I have already won at the Appellate Division, but he refuses to accept their already made decision. Nobody has ever heard of anything like this before. I would be forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire Sale prices, and if and when I win the Appeal, they would be gone. Does that make sense? WITCH HUNT. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
If Trump chooses not to liquidate those assets to come up with the money, there’s a chance that Trump could still lose the golf courses another way as the courts could begin seizing properties and assets that were found to have had “fraudulent” and “misleading” values.
This includes 10 of his golf courses, according to a report from Newsweek:
- Trump National Golf Club Westchester, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
- Trump National Golf Club Charlotte, Mooresville, North Carolina
- Trump National Golf Club Colts Neck, Colts Neck, New Jersey
- Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C., Sterling, Virginia
- Trump National Golf Club Hudson Valley, Hopewell Junction, N.Y.
- Trump National Golf Club Jupiter, Jupiter, Florida
- Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles, Rancho Palos Verdes, California
- Trump National Golf Club Philadelphia, Pine Hill, New Jersey
- Trump International Golf Links Scotland (Aberdeen)
- Trump International Golf Links Scotland (Turnberry)
Trump has continually expressed his displeasure at the situation on social media.
“I shouldn’t have to put up any money, being forced by the Corrupt Judge and AG, until the end of the appeal. That’s the way system works!” Trump said on Truth Social.
But his outrage is unlikely to change the decision from the judge, which means Trump appears set to suffer some major financial losses and perhaps even the loss of his golf courses in order to cover the $464 million judgment.
