What We Know About Trump’s Failure to Arrange a Half-Billion-Dollar Bond

The calendar is not Donald J. Trump’s friend.

In six days, the former president must secure an appeal bond for roughly half a billion dollars in his civil fraud case in New York, a possibility that was called into question on Monday.

In a court filing, Mr. Trump’s lawyers revealed that he had been unable to secure an appeal bond despite “diligent efforts” that included approaching about 30 bond companies.

While Mr. Trump this month managed to post a $91.6 million bond in his defamation case against the writer E. Jean Carroll, securing the deal at the 11th hour from a large insurance company, he lacks the assets needed to secure the far bigger guarantee for the fraud case.

If he cannot produce the bond by March 25, Mr. Trump faces the possibility of financial disaster and humiliation. New York’s attorney general, who brought the fraud case, would be entitled to collect the $454 million and could seek to seize Mr. Trump’s New York properties or freeze his bank accounts.

And Mr. Trump’s money problems spread well beyond New York. As the presumptive Republican nominee for president, he is facing increased pressure to raise money to fund his campaign, lagging behind his opponent, President Biden, in fund-raising.

Here’s what we know about Mr. Trump’s financial problems:

Why does Mr. Trump owe so much?

Attorney General Letitia James took Mr. Trump to trial last fall and accused him of fraudulently inflating the value of his assets to obtain favorable loan terms.