Donald Trump tries to negotiate with Judge Engoron

Donald Trump has been accused of trying to “negotiate” with the New York judge who ordered the former president pay a $355 million penalty in the civil fraud case.

A number of legal experts have reacted to Trump’s legal team’s request to halt the collection of the penalty, which increases to $454 million with interest, and to lower the cash bond needed in order to argue against the ruling to $100 million.

Trump is appealing the penalty issued to him by Judge Arthur Engoron after the judge ruled the former president filed fraudulent financial statements that inflated the value of his properties and assets for years. Justice Anil Singh rejected the request that Trump only pay $100 million on Wednesday, and ruled that the former president must pay the full amount of the penalty or cash bond by the original deadline of March 25.

In their request for a stay on the penalty, Trump’s lawyers argued that the judgment orders an “unprecedented and punitive disgorgement of nearly $460 million and overbroad permanent injunctive relief against Appellants in the absence of legal authority or factual support.”

While sharing the court filings, Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor and legal analysts, said the request to lower the bond was “vintage” Trump.

“In the NY fraud case, he’s trying to negotiate with the judge, saying he’ll post a $100mil bond, but not the full judgment + interest,” Vance posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“He fails to understand it’s not negotiable. Either he posts the full bond or NY AG starts enforcing the judgment once it’s final.”

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, a frequent critic of Trump, added: “Apparently, Trump thinks he can treat the court like he treats the people with whom he contracts to do work for him: I’ll give you 25% of what I owe you. Take it or leave it. He really does believe that the rules don’t apply to him.”

In reply, attorney Tom Haynes wrote: “Exactly. Trump is trying to negotiate a court order. I’ve never seen anything like it. Why does Trump even hire attorneys? He obviously doesn’t listen to a word they say.”

Trump’s legal team has been contacted for comment via email.

In their filings, Trump’s legal team suggested that the former president may have to sell off some of his assets in order to pay the huge penalty.

“The exorbitant and punitive amount of the judgment, coupled with an unlawful and unconstitutional blanket prohibition on lending transactions, would make it impossible to secure and post a complete bond,” they wrote.

“In the absence of a stay on the terms herein outlined, properties would likely need to be sold to raise capital under exigent circumstances, and there would be no way to recover any property sold following a successful appeal and no means to recover the resulting financial losses from the Attorney General.”

While rejecting the $100 million request, Singh did allow another from Trump’s legal team to pause Engoron ruling which banned the former president from pursuing loans from New York, potentially providing the Republican a way to secure the money.