Donald Trump GoFundMe is Not Even Paying off the Interest on His Fine

The money raised for Donald Trump following his civil fraud judgement may not even cover the interest on his fine.

A GoFundMe page was set up for the former president on Friday, following Judge Arthur Engoron ruling that Trump will have to pay roughly $355 million in penalties for fraud. It was ruled he and top executives at The Trump Organization committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers.

The lawsuit, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, initially sought $250 million in damages, but James increased what she sought to $370 million, plus interest. New York State mandates a 9 percent interest rate on the sum of damages and following the ruling, James said that with pre-judgment interest, the judgment totals over $450 million, an amount "which will continue to increase every single day" until the judgment is paid.

Elena Cardone, the wife of real estate businessman Grant Cardone, made the GoFundMe page following the ruling, titled, "Stand with Trump; Fund the $355M Unjust Judgment" following Engoron's ruling.

Since it started, it has brought in around $409,000 of donations at the time of writing on the morning of February 19. If James is correct in her assessment of the amount of interest Trump must pay, that means the amount raised in the fundraiser will not even cover the interest of the fine.

Newsweek contacted a representative for Trump by email to comment on this story.

Dr Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., told Newsweek the funds won't "touch the edges of what Trump owes to the courts."

"While this GoFundMe probably breaks its own rules anyway, if allowed to continue it's not going to touch the edges of what Trump owes the courts," he said.

"It's notable that it has raised less than $0.5m in three days. That won't even cover the interest he owes. While any decision on whether he has to pay up could well be held up in the appeals process is Trump's lawyers can find sufficient reason to persuade the judiciary to return his cases to court—by no means a given—he will still have to deposit much of what he owes in escrow. He'll need much more than faithful MAGAs to meet the court's demands."

Per Engoron's ruling, Trump, Weisselberg and McConney will also be barred from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in the state for three years. Donald Jr. and Eric Trump were ordered to each pay more than $4 million and were banned from doing business in the state for two years.

Trump called Engoron "crooked" and James "totally corrupt" in a Truth Social post on Friday. His lawyer Christopher Kise told Newsweek at the time that Trump plans to appeal the judge's ruling in James' "unjust political crusade against the front-running candidate for President of the United States."

Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, also announced an appeal will be filed.

"Given the grave stakes, we trust that the Appellate Division will overturn this egregious verdict and end this relentless persecution against my clients," Habba said in a statement.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear: this is not just about Donald Trump—if this decision stands, it will serve as a signal to every single American that New York is no longer open for business," she added.

Meanwhile, James called the judge's ruling "a massive victory" in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday. She wrote in a follow-post: "No matter how big, how rich, or how powerful you are, no one is above the law. Not even Donald Trump."