Lara Trump Says Republicans 'Absolutely' Want To Pay Trump's Legal Bills

Republicans would "absolutely" pay Donald Trump's legal bills, Lara Trump has said.

Asked by a CNN reporter in South Carolina if Republicans would foot the bill for the GOP frontrunner's soaring legal bills, his daughter-in-law said: "Absolutely. That's why you see a GoFundMe get started, that's why people are furious right now when they see the attacks against him they feel it's an attack not just on Donald Trump but on this country."

The Context

The Republican is facing staggering legal costs stemming from multiple court cases.

On Friday, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump will have to pay roughly $355 million in penalties in his civil fraud case, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The New York court held that Trump 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.

Meanwhile, in January, a New York City jury said Trump should pay $83.3 million in damages to former journalist E. Jean Carroll for statements made in 2019. He said she was lying about allegations that he sexually assaulted her inside a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s. That amount includes $7.3 million in compensatory damages, $11 million for reputational repair and $65 million in punitive damages.

Trump was previously ordered to pay Carroll $5 million in damages last year in another civil defamation trial stemming from his denial of her claims in 2022. He has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing.

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

What We Know

After Engoron's ruling, Elena Cardone, the wife of real estate businessman Grant Cardone, set up a GoFundMe page titled "Stand with Trump; Fund the $355M Unjust Judgment," to pay for Trump's fine.

It has raised over $928,000 at the time of writing on Thursday morning.

Views

Speaking to the BBC last week, William Thomas, a professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, said Trump might need to sell his assets to pay for his legal fines. "Something is going to have to be sold or realized in order to get the money to pay for that kind of cost," he said.

What's Next?

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.

Update 2/22/24, 3:20 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.