Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media after voting at a polling station setup in the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center on March 19, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Friday, Trump said he can afford to post bond, but is pushing with his legal team to appeal the ruling altogether.
Trump said he has nearly $500 million in cash. His company, Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, is set to become public after a merger Monday. The company will trade on the Nasdaq as "DJT."
Trump owns more than 78 million shares of the stock, valued at nearly $4 billion.
"That doesn’t mean I’m going to give money to a rogue and incompetent judge – the puppet of a corrupt attorney general who’s failing with violent crime and migrant crime and whose only purpose in life is attempting to get Trump," Trump told Fox News Digital, referring to Engoron and James.
At this point, however, his shares are frozen. The board of the company can vote to un-freeze those assets if necessary.
Engoron's ruling came after a months-long non-jury trial stemming from James' years-long investigation. James, when campaigning to become attorney general, vowed to "get Trump."
"We’re definitely gonna sue him, we’re gonna be a real pain in the a--," James once told a supporter on video.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) and former First Lady Melania Trump leave after voting in Florida's primary election at a polling station at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 19, 2024. ((Photo by GIORGIO VIERA / AFP) (Photo by GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images))
TRUMP BARRED FROM OPERATING BUSINESS, ORDERED TO PAY OVER $350 MILLION IN NY CIVIL FRAUD CASE
"There was never an option to choose a jury trial," a Trump spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "It is unfortunate that a jury won’t be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened."
Trump and his family denied any wrongdoing, with the former president saying his assets had been undervalued. Trump's legal team insisted that his financial statements had disclaimers, and made it clear to banks that they should conduct their own assessments.
Throughout the trial, Trump attorneys brought witnesses, including former Deutsche Bank top executives, who testified the banks sought additional business from Trump, whom they viewed as a "whale of a client."
Trump's defense also brought in expert witnesses, including New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov, who reviewed the Trump financial statements at issue in the case and said he found no evidence of accounting fraud.
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Bartov testified last month that Trump’s financial statements did not violate accounting principles, and he suggested that anything problematic – like a huge year-to-year leap in the estimated value of his Trump Tower penthouse – was simply an error.
"My main finding is that there is no evidence whatsoever of any accounting fraud," Bartov testified. Trump’s financial statements, he said, "were not materially misstated."
Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.
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