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A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request by Donald Trump to delay enforcement of the $83.3 million judgment he owes writer E. Jean Carroll, meaning Trump has until Monday to post a bond or put up cash in the case.
The former president and likely 2024 Republican White House nominee has sought to postpone payments on the significant penalties he owes following two recent courtroom losses in New York, which could leave him facing a severe cash crunch.
A jury in January ordered Trump to pay Carroll the $83 million for defaming her, and a separate civil fraud trial concluded last month with a judge ordering him to pay penalties totaling at least $450 million.
The judgment in the Carroll case becomes final Monday, and to keep it from being enforced amid appeals, Trump must put up money in cash or bonds. Attorneys for Trump have filed a motion to delay the judgment while he appeals it or at least allow him to post a bond that is “a fraction of the amount of the judgment.”
Trump’s attorneys on Wednesday filed a request to postpone any payment of the Carroll judgment until three business days after the court rules on the motion. Making Trump post a bond “or other security” before the court rules on the stay motion “threatens to impose irreparable injury in the form of substantial costs (which may or may not be recoverable),” they wrote.
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who oversaw the Carroll case, denied this request late Thursday afternoon. In a brief order, Kaplan was dismissive of Trump’s claims about incurring costs, writing that his side had not shown what expenses he might incur if he had to post a bond.
Kaplan also suggested that Trump’s “current situation” was self-inflicted, writing that he had since Jan. 26 — the day a jury ordered him to pay Carroll $83 million — to organize his finances knowing this bond could loom. Despite that, Kaplan continued, Trump waited 25 days after the verdict to ask for a stay amid his post-trial motions.
Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll, declined to comment on the judge’s order. (Kaplan is not related to the judge.) Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carroll, an author, accused Trump in 2019 of sexually assaulting her decades earlier. Trump has vehemently denied her allegations and publicly criticized her, leading her to file two civil lawsuits against him.
Trump is closing in on another Republican presidential nomination and a rematch with President Biden. He is also campaigning while contending with four criminal cases, including one in New York set to go to trial this month.
Trump has sought to delay enforcement of more than a half-billion dollars he owes in the Carroll case and following a separate civil lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D). She accused him and others of committing a years-long financial fraud, and New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ordered him to pay at least $450 million in penalties.
Trump asked an appeals court judge to delay enforcement of Engoron’s decision or let him post a $100 million bond rather than the full amount. The appeals court judge denied his request, and a full panel is expected to review the case soon.
In the Carroll case, Trump’s attorneys have sought to stay the judgment by saying his post-trial motions “will substantially reduce, if not eliminate,” the amount he owes.
Trump has sought to speed up Kaplan’s decision on the matter, asking for a decision by this past Monday. Kaplan declined to do so, writing in an order that day: “A decision will be rendered as promptly as is reasonably possible.”