Republican Group Mocks 'Broke' Donald Trump

An anti-Donald Trump conservative group has shared a video mocking the presumptive Republican presidential nominee as "broke, busted, the loser in chief" in response to his difficulties paying a $464 million bond in his New York civil fraud case.

The former president has struggled to hand over the money following a judgment from Judge Arthur Engoron, who concluded that Trump fraudulently inflated the value of his assets to receive more favorable bank loans. Trump has announced he will appeal the ruling, but he risks having assets confiscated if he cannot pay the bond.

On March 12, he won a series of Republican primary contests, establishing himself as the GOP's presumptive presidential candidate for the November 2024 election and likely setting up a rematch of the 2020 contest against President Joe Biden. This has focused attention on Trump's policies and ongoing legal difficulties, with the leading Republican facing four criminal trials in addition to a slew of civil cases.

On Thursday, The Lincoln Project, a group founded by anti-Trump Republicans, shared a video titled "Broke," which it first published in October, mocking the former president over his financial situation. The group republished the video in response to a Daily Beast article that said New York Attorney General Letitia James had begun preparing to seize Trump's Seven Springs golf course and private estate north of Manhattan.

In the video, which received more than 144,000 views and 1,900 likes on X, formerly Twitter, a female voice says: "Oh, Donald. You're broke and busted—a fraud, a con, a low-rent rip-off artist. We've always known it, so have you."

The narrator continues: "Now America knows it. The courts are shutting down your crooked shell companies in New York. Bank fraud, insurance fraud, you know those are crimes right, Donald? They're dissolving the whole Trump Organization scam right from under you. Bankruptcy won't save you this time. You'll have to sell off everything. You might even lose control of that dump Trump Tower."

In his February ruling, Engoron not only instructed Trump to pay $355 million in damages, increased to about $464 million with interest, but also barred him from being the director of any company in New York over the next three years.

The Lincoln Project's video concludes: "Everything you ever built was built on a lie. You were never rich, never successful. New York is laughing at you, always has, always will, and now everyone knows it. Broke, busted, the loser in chief."

When contacted by Newsweek, a Trump campaign spokesman made an allegation about the leadership of The Lincoln Project that Newsweek cannot verify.

In a court filing on March 18, Trump's legal team said it was "practically impossible" for him to post the $464 million bond and suggested it be reduced to $100 million.

"Despite scouring the market, we have been unsuccessful in our effort to obtain a bond for the Judgment Amount for Defendants for the simple reason that obtaining an appeal bond for $464 million is a practical impossibility under the circumstances presented," the filing said.

In a post on X, Democratic Representative Sean Casten of Illinois said Trump's financial difficulties make him a "massive national security risk" as he seeks a second term in the White House.

He wrote: "The presumptive GOP nominee for President is desperate for $464M (and counting) which he cannot personally access. That fact alone makes him a massive national security risk; any foreign adversary seeking to buy a President knows the price."

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the civil fraud case and insists that, if anything, his assets were undervalued.

Update 3/22/24 8:25 a.m. ET: This story has been to note a Trump spokesperson responded to a request for comment with allegations Newsweek is unable to verify.

Correction 3/22/24 9:19 a.m. ET: This story was updated with a correction to Letitia James' name.