Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks from the hallway outside a courtroom where he attended a hearing in his criminal case on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star in New York City, U.S., March 25, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
A court ruling that slashed Donald Trump‘s civil fraud appeal bond was a financial win for the former president. But the campaign of his rival, President Joe Biden, found a way to capitalize on the news.
“Donald Trump is weak and desperate – both as a man and a candidate for President,” the Biden campaign said in a searing statement Monday afternoon.
“He spent the weekend golfing, the morning comparing himself to Jesus, and the afternoon lying about having money he definitely doesn’t have,” said Biden campaign spokesman James Singer, in response to a Trump press conference earlier in the day.
“His campaign can’t raise money, he is uninterested in campaigning outside his country club, and every time he opens his mouth, he pushes moderate and suburban voters away with his dangerous agenda,” Singer said in a statement.
“America deserves better than a feeble, confused, and tired Donald Trump.”
Trump campaign spokesmen did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The Biden campaign’s salvo ratcheted up an offensive against Trump that seeks to flip the script on questions that have dogged Biden, 81, about his own age and physical stamina.
It also followed a pair of major developments Monday in Trump’s criminal and civil court cases.
In Manhattan, a judge in Trump’s criminal hush-money case set a trial date for April 15. The decision was a blow to Trump, whose lawyers argued the trial should have been pushed back to give them time to read a tranche of recently submitted records.
While that hearing was going on, a New York appeals court in Trump’s business fraud case shrunk his bond requirement to $175 million and gave him 10 days to post it.
Trump had been unable to post an appeal bond equal to his $454 million judgment in that case, and New York Attorney General Letitia James was poised to begin seizing his assets as soon as Monday.
But the appeals court ruling slashed the bond by roughly 60%, a major victory for Trump.
Trump had previously claimed he would have to sell properties in a “fire sale” to come up with enough cash to pause the penalty from coming due.
But he also continued to claim that he was flush with cash, and that he simply wanted to save some of it to use on his presidential campaign.
Asked in a press conference Monday afternoon if he would start contributing his own funds to his White House bid, Trump said, “it’s none of your business.”
“I might do that, I have the option. But if I have to spend $500 million on the bond, I wouldn’t have that option,” Trump said outside of 40 Wall Street, a building that bears his name but is not actually owned by Trump.
On Sunday, Biden mocked Trump on social media after the former president boasted that he had won two golf trophies at his own golf club over the weekend. Biden’s post went viral, racking up more than 25 million views as of 6:15PM Monday.
