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Former President Donald Trump may rack up millions of dollars in interest by not paying the $355 million judgment handed down by a judge in his business fraud trial.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron on Friday ordered Trump to pay $354.9 million in penalties after previously siding with New York Attorney General Letitia James in her civil lawsuit against the former president's businesses. James, a Democrat, accused Trump and top executives at his family company, The Trump Organization, of conspiring to increase his net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to make deals and secure loans.
Trump has said he plans to file an appeal of Engoron's ruling and has denied any wrongdoing.
However, if Trump does not quickly pay off the judgment, he could face millions of dollars in interest payments on top of what he already owes. He will have to continue paying interest on the penalties until they are completely paid off, and has already accrued nearly $100 million in interest.
Engoron ordered Trump to pay three separate payments of $168 million, $126.8 million and $60 million, totaling the $354.9 million figure. He determined that interest on these loans would retroactively start in March 2019, May 2022 and June 2023, and that interest "shall be at the rate of nine percent per annum, except where otherwise provided by statute."
This means that Trump will be paying roughly $32 million per year, amounting to about $87,501.89 per day. Every 12 days, the former president will owe an additional million in interest on his payments.
Because Engoron ordered Trump to pay pre-judgment interest dating as early as March 2019 on one penalty, he owes an additional $99 million in interest as of Monday, for a grand total approaching $454 million.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email on Tuesday.
Trump's attorney Christopher Kise criticized the ruling from Engoron in a statement previously made to Newsweek.
"The Court today ignored the law, ignored the facts, and simply signed off on the Attorney General's manifestly unjust political crusade against the front-running candidate for President of the United States."
Kise slammed the court for imposing a "draconian and unconstitutional fine and a corporate 'death penalty' on President Trump, his family, and the extraordinary global business empire he developed over a lifetime of hard work and achievement."
He added that Trump "will of course appeal and remains confident the Appellate Division will ultimately correct the innumerable and catastrophic errors made by a trial court untethered to the law or to reality."
James, however, celebrated the ruling, writing in a post to X, formerly Twitter, "Today, justice has been served. This is a major win for everyone who believes that we must all play by the same rules. No matter how big, how rich, or how powerful you are, no one is above the law. Not even Donald Trump."
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About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more