Posted on 03/21/2024 7:09:32 PM PDT by chuckee
In the span of just a few days, Donald Trump’s financial position has moved from seemingly dire—facing the seizure of prized real estate if he doesn’t obtain a large bond—to potentially dazzling, with revelations that his social-media company could bring him more than $3 billion.
It is nothing new for a man who has long ridden a roller coaster of luck, acquiring and losing valuable assets repeatedly. When his financial position appears to be the most at risk, again and again, he finds a way to squirm out of it and emerge strong.
A big question: Would the windfall come in time to rescue him once more?
The former president most immediately faces a $454 million judgment against him in a civil-fraud case in which a judge found he inflated his assets for financial gain for years. Unless an appeals court soon rules in Trump’s favor, New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who brought the case, could begin trying to seize his assets Monday.
Also Monday, the parent company of Trump’s social-media company—Truth Social—could become publicly traded under the stock ticker DJT. Because of his ownership stake, this could essentially double his estimated net worth. But he can’t sell the shares or borrow against them for six months unless he gets a waiver from the shell company taking Truth Social public.
These sums dwarf the huge financial hole he faces as the presumptive Republican candidate for president. Trump is beginning the 2024 general election at a financial disadvantage, with some donors still skittish about chipping in. Trump aides believe they have plenty of time to close the gap with President Biden...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
I don’t know if the USSC can get involved in a hurry. I’m not a lawyer, but I would guess Trump has to exhaust all state options before going federal. And then going federal it has to go to the circuit court before asking the SC to step in. But check with a real lawyer.
That said there was a case I saw from 2019. A heroin dealer was busted in Indiana. He pleaded guilty. The maximum fine for the crime was $10,000 but the court imposed on him apx $1,500 fine. But the state also wanted to take his $42,000 car. They did this under Civil Forfeiture it was not a criminal offense. That is key here. The drug dealer appealed and the IN supreme out agreed with the drug dealer. The taking of his $42,000 car in civil forfeiture was far in excess of the actual fine, and the maximum possible fine. The state appealed their own court and it went to the USSC.
The USSC also sided 9-0 with the drug dealer. Though they were split on the reason they all agreed. RBG said it was an 8th amendment issue. Thomas and Gorsuch said it was a 14th amendment issue. But they all agreed on the answer just different ways to get there. They said the fine was excessive. But what was interesting is that the court went out of their way to say the reason we have these protections goes back to English Common Law, and that excessive fines could be used in a vindictive manner to punish political opposition. That is why it is prohibited. So here we have a case where a prosecutor said she was going to get Trump during her campaign, then she went after him using a very unique reading of a Civil, not criminal statute. There were no victims. This law has never been used before to go after anyone for this type of rationale and even the governor said “don’t worry this is just about Trump not other New Yorkers. There is even a question whether this law even applies here as it was a consumer protection law. There are plenty of other issues eg Trump didn’t even get to put on a defense, because it was a Civil not a criminal statute. The court ruled against Trump before even hearing his side he was only allowed to argue about the amount of the fine. And the judge granted 100% of what James asked. It was clearly a political railroad.
So I think Trump has plenty to go after in federal court. But I do think he first needs to exhaust his state options and then go to circuit court and then, if he loses, appeal to the supremes.
I look at the Elon thing this way: Elon is on the hoof for 44 billion when he overpaid for Twitter. The 450 million private placement Trump may want to place with him is chump change compared to the 44 billion dollar elephant in his room. It buys him access to Trump if he is elected President and needs a regulatory favor and , who knows, the investment may actually work out for him in the long run
Yeah sure Musk could write a check and not lose a minutes sleep. But so could many others. There is an optics issue. Trump probably has a lot of pride. He pleadings saying 30 underwriters rejected him is as much legal maneuvering as it may be real. I suggest that under the eyes of the law he has to show that his reasonable options are exhausted and thus the court should grant some relief. I think Trump could make other moves but this is a legal requirement to show the courts that all regular normal options are foreclosed.
Musk for his part has no real need to do this either way. I don’t see it as Musk “buying access” so to speak. No President will refuse his calls. He is as big or bigger than Howard Hughes in his day. Musk is needed by world leaders everywhere. He’s got his fingers in governments all over the place. His satellite internet thing is a military need. He is the only viable EV maker at this time.
So if Musk were to get involved, I’d say he would do it with a very public pronouncement… something like “I am not doing this for Trump, I am doing it because I believe this is an injustice and against American values. I want to help Trump get his day in court and think the system was rigged and the law is unfair so I want to let Trump play it out and not let the government break a person with unfair or unreasonable demands. That is not the America I believe in”. Something like that. He would need to keep it somewhat above board and with the appearance of arms length. He would need it to be a secured loan, which is also probably a legal and tax requirement as well. Assuming he is willing to step in, he has to walk a fine line and make clear why eg not because he wants Trump to be POTUS but because he thinks Trump has been unfairly targeted for political reasons and he wants to see it play all the way out in the interest of the future of the country.
And even then, I can’t imagine Trump really liking the optics of it. Trump is a strident and proud man. He doesn’t want to look weak or reliant on anyone. He will look like he’s eating some crow no matter what option he takes.
I still say Bankruptcy is an option. It should technically halt all proceedings. But there too, it will be a PR hit and he’ll have to expend a lot of goodwill trying to explain to the American people that he had no choice, that he is a victim of political persecution and this was his last resort. The other side of BK is that all his financials become essentially public records. Something he’s tried to avoid for a long time.
p
“the motherfokers until they squeamed and had to live in van down by the river.”
A van? No. I think a refrigerator box would be more appropriate for them.
I’ve been wondering if/how Musk might step in to save the day. Anything is possible, I guess. I don’t want PDJT to be in the position where Musk owns him. Not sure I trust him 100%.
Interesting.
“I still say Bankruptcy is an option.”
Unless TPTB forbids that. When Alex Jones was hit with a huge financial penalty, the judge decreed that he was forbidden to declare bankruptcy.
What idiot would start a GoFundMe account for Trump?!? GoFundMe is ultra liberal and has “stolen” money donated for conservative people/causes.
And what idiot would donate a dollar to GoFundMe in Trump’s behalf, knowing that GFM most likely will STEAL THE MONEY?
GiveSendGo was started to counter GFM.
That it is not been stayed shows it to be malicious and intentionally punitive.
The whole matter is vindictive and corrupt. And the majority of people see it.
Yeah, but the See Eye Ay carried out a color revolution in this country in 2019-2020 in order to ensure exactly this kind of sickening abuse of power.
I've been praying.
My opinion- Trump has the money and he is letting Letitia run with her seizures, at least for now. The optics are good for him. He will use this to Garner even more support.
Yeah, no bias from WSJ there.
We got in to DWAC under 20.00 a share. The merger is today. There is a DWAC group on Truth Social with over 7,000 members.
Yes, the rest of the Journal article recounts how the shell stock is up 140% this past year, primarily driven by small investor Trump shareholder supporters. They further indicate that when Truth Social goes public in its own right the stock price might get a healthy run from the same folks nationally. The poetic justice is that Trump’s name on the stock, of which he will own 60% of the shares, may give the stock a multiplier well beyond its intrinsic worth. Works for me and him, too. lol
I am sure he has big plans.
The vote is 10:00 a.m. this morning to approve the merger which will allow it to trade as djp on Monday. The stock price of dwac will be up today but just wait till Monday. And if Trump brings the opening bell everything Breaks Loose from there
Yes! My avg is 23.50
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