Former United States President Donald Trump is quite proud of his vast empire of golf courses which are some of the best and most prestigious in the world, but he’s now at risk of losing them as a result of some legal troubles that landed him in a brutal financial situation.
Last month, Donald Trump 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. As a result, he was given a $454 million judgment in a civil fraud trial, which has grown to more than $464 million due to interest, which he will now have to pay.
It’s obviously a large amount of money, and Trump said in a recent social media post 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” in order to pay the sum.
“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 is unable to come up with the money, 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)
Obviously, this is all horrible news for Trump, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media.
Donald Trump’s properties in New York's Westchester County may be at risk of being seized if he fails to post an appeal bond in the state's civil fraud case https://t.co/Ls3ckmMpAg
— Bloomberg Markets (@markets) March 21, 2024
NY AG Letitia James is now allowed to seize Donald Trump's assets, starting Monday.
I hear Mar-a-Lago may have some value.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) March 19, 2024
Trump owes this money because he fraudulently misrepresented the value of his assets — and now (oops) apparently no one will accept those assets as collateral https://t.co/VM82gMo8Il pic.twitter.com/rYmMOCTp2D
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) March 18, 2024
So, doesn’t this just further prove the NY AG’s case? tRump’s assets were extremely overvalued and not nearly close to what he claimed. #DownwardSpiral https://t.co/d8mYTSXty7
— An Outlaw and His Beer (@calwan) March 18, 2024
Trump lost a lawsuit because he overvalued his properties, and now it seems he can't use those properties as collateral. Maybe, and I'm speculating here, when you overvalue your properties, banks no longer trust their value. https://t.co/3FUyCUxTKP
— bcb (@bcb_matrix) March 18, 2024
I don’t know how the government and business works but a person in this kind of pinch should not be able to run for presidency. https://t.co/QrmOUY9RPc
— Aku Addy, Artist.🇨🇮 (@Aku__Addy) March 18, 2024
the answer should be a resounding, earth-shattering, eardrum breaking NO! SELL THE ASSETS NOW! No breaks, no privilege, no special deals! https://t.co/Y1WzWIhARz
— Jim Ransomer (@jrr60) March 18, 2024
Thought he was a multi billionaire???? https://t.co/86OZMDzNMc
— Peter Baxter (@Super_Grimpy) March 18, 2024
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.
