Donald Trump's Massive Bond Makes Him a 'Security Risk,' Democrat Warns

Donald Trump's declared failure to secure a bond of $454 million in his civil fraud case in New York could turn the former president into a potential "national security risk," a Democratic congressman said.

Representative Sean Casten of Illinois warned Monday that Trump might elicit money from foreign nationals to cover his bond. "The presumptive @GOP nominee for President is desperate for $464M (and counting) which he cannot personally access," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "That fact alone makes him a massive national security risk; any foreign adversary seeking to buy a President knows the price."

Newsweek contacted Casten's office for comment by phone call on Monday outside standard working hours and left a message. The office of Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, was contacted by email.

The issue of Trump receiving foreign money to pay his massive bond was also raised by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who told MSNBC's "Deadline: White House," that Americans should be careful about where the former president might get money from.

"First and foremost, if it's coming from a company like Chubb or Federated [Insurance], yes we know that company, it's an American company and so on. But what if hypothetically, the money is coming from Saudi Arabia, from Qatar?" he said on Monday.

"What if by chance, it's coming through a backdoor channel of Russia? That now leaves a potential presidential candidate [...] basically owing a foreign entity. All at the expense of America's security? This is no joke," he added.

On Monday, Trump's lawyers said in a court filing that the former president faces "insurmountable difficulties" trying to raise enough cash to pay the huge bond he owes for the civil fraud penalty in New York while he appeals Judge Arthur Engoron's ruling in New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit.

In February, Engoron ordered Trump to pay $355 million, plus interest, for inflating the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from banks and insurers. He also banned him from serving in top roles in any New York business for three years.

Raising the full amount of money necessary, Trump's lawyers said, "is not possible under the circumstances presented." They mentioned that the former president's request for funding was rejected by more than 30 bond underwriters.

The former president's lawyers asked the New York Intermediate Appeals Court to reverse a prior ruling demanding Trump post a bond covering the full amount in order to halt the enforcement of Engoron's ruling, which could see the court seizing some of Trump's assets. They previously proposed that the former president pay only $100 million, but their request was rejected.

Trump has roughly another week before the bond in the case is due.

The New York case isn't the only one putting a strain on Trump's finances. On March 8, the former president posted a $91.6 million bond in E. Jean Carroll's defamation case, where a federal jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages to the writer. The bond—considerably smaller than the New York fraud case one—was provided by an outside insurance company.

Casten said that there wasn't enough clarity on how Trump got this money.

"We already lack clarity on what security was provided for the $91M bond he posted in response to the E. Jean Carroll case," the congressman wrote in a social media post, adding that this was a big deal. "A guy who wants your trust and wants to be President should disclose his liabilities."

Casten said that while representatives have to post "regular reports" of their assets and liabilities, "the fact that we don't know this about someone running for the highest office in the land shifts the liability onto our democracy itself." He added that it's a "massive problem" that senators aren't required to do the same either.