A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Donald Trump has long boasted of a vast fortune. That's before a New York civil court ordered him to pay what could top $450 million to the state as a penalty for deceiving lenders about his net worth. Now, since that decision, the former president has set up a crowdfunding campaign and launched a Trump-branded line of sneakers.
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DONALD TRUMP: I have some incredible people that work with me on things, and they came up with this, and this is something I've been talking about for 12 years, 13 years. And I think it's going to be a big success.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, whether his sneaker sales are a success or not, Trump has about 30 days to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars to the state of New York or secure a bond. So let's ask Jim Wheaton how Trump might come up with those funds. He's a professor at the William & Mary School of Law who has studied corporate legal issues and Donald Trump's finances. Professor, so what restrictions does the ruling place on Donald Trump's ability to make some money?
JIM WHEATON: There are really three levels of restrictions. First, the judge decided to continue the independent monitor, a former federal judge who essentially has veto power over a lot of the things that the Trump Organization can do. And he also added a requirement that they hire a new compliance officer. Second, he banned the former president from serving as - essentially in management of any of his New York business entities. And he banned the president's two sons for two years and the former president for three years from that work. And then finally, the Trump Organization and its entities are not allowed to get loans or financing from any institution that's registered or does business in New York, which obviously limits the universe of potential financiers for things like the bond, but also for additional financing for any of the Trump ventures.
MARTÍNEZ: So I mentioned the judgment - 355 million, then, with interest. It leads to around 450 million. Does that sound about right?
WHEATON: It does, but that's only prejudgment interest.
MARTÍNEZ: OK.
WHEATON: So as soon as the judgment is entered in this case, formally by the judge, the interest clock is going to continue to run at about 9% a year until that amount is actually paid to the state of New York in this case, or, if you're talking about the Jean Carroll judgment from a few weeks ago, to Mrs. Carroll.
MARTÍNEZ: So how is he going to come up with that in 30 days?
WHEATON: The calculations were primarily based on the savings that the Trump Organization and the different Trump companies received by virtue of misrepresenting their financial condition. So the judge looked at what interest rate they would have paid had they honestly represented the financial condition, determined that there had been fraud and calculated what the interest rate would have been on a project-by-project basis had they received market interest rates for the kind of financial condition they had.
MARTÍNEZ: Does Trump, though, have that kind of cash laying around?
WHEATON: You know, he testified in a deposition that he had about $400 million in Cash App assets. You know, that seems consistent, apparently, with what others have reported that those in the Trump orbit say that he has. As you indicated, this could be about a $450 million number with an additional premium to protect against post-judgment interest that goes above 500 million. And then you add the Jean Carroll number in there, and you're suing over 600 million.
MARTÍNEZ: If he appeals all this, though, will he still have to pay right off the bat?
WHEATON: He's got the same appeal bond requirement for the Carroll judgment. And that judgment was entered about a week ago. And so the 30-day appeal clock is running on that one. So both of these judgments have a potential impact on his cash.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's Professor Jim Wheaton at the William & Mary Law School. Professor, thanks.
WHEATON: Thank you.
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