TOPLINE

Former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants filed notice they’re appealing the ruling in the civil fraud case against the ex-president and his company on Monday—and the penalty he has to pay will keep increasing in the meantime, as a nine percent interest rate on the judgment means Trump’s bill will keep ticking up by more than $111,000 per day until it’s paid.

KEY FACTS

Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and companies he controls to pay $354.9 million as part of the civil fraud case—accusing Trump and his associates of misstating valuations on financial statements for personal gain—which is made up of three separate penalties for $168 million, $126.8 million and $60 million.

By the time Engoron’s formal judgment was entered on Feb. 23, Trump actually owed $454.2 million, which includes a nine percent interest rate that Engoron ruled started accruing on the fines in March 2019, May 2022 and June 2023, respectively—adding $99 million to Trump’s total.

While the interest before the judgment was entered accrued at a rate of $87,502 per day, the interest is now going up by $111,984 per day, according to the New York attorney general’s office, which is nine percent of the full $454.2 million that includes pre-judgment interest.

The nine percent rate means Trump will owe an additional $40.9 million per year, $3.4 million per month, $786,041 per week and $111,984 per day.

That interest will keep accruing until it’s paid off—even while Trump appeals the ruling, which won’t stop him from having to post an appeals bond or putting cash into a court-controlled account to cover the amount he owes plus an extra percentage for interest as it accrues.

That means as of Tuesday—four days after the formal judgment was entered on Friday, and 11 days after Engoron’s initial ruling—Trump now owes $454.6 million, according to a penalty calculator created by Associated Press journalist Mike Sislak.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

At the nine percent interest rate, Trump will owe approximately $454.9 million on Friday—two weeks after Engoron’s initial ruling—$456.6 million a month from the ruling on March 16, and $473.8 million six months out from the ruling on August 16. If Trump’s appeals process in the case keeps going on for another year, he’ll owe $494.4 million as of Feb. 16, 2025.

TANGENT

In addition to the civil fraud penalty, Trump also owes $88.3 million, plus interest, from two verdicts against him in cases brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. A jury first ordered Trump to pay $5 million in May 2023, finding him liable for defamation and sexual assault, and he was then ordered to pay another $83.3 million in January in a separate defamation trial. Trump has already put $5.5 million into a court-controlled account to cover the first verdict while he appeals it, and has not yet paid the $83.3 million award, which he’s also expected to appeal. A judge denied his request to pause that judgment over the weekend.

FORBES VALUATION

Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $2.6 billion as of September, which includes $426 million in cash and liquid assets, part of $640 million in personal assets that also include his personal homes, private aircraft, pensions and cryptocurrency holdings.