Trump faces assets ‘fire sale’ as cash for appeal dries up

Donald Trump is facing the prospect of a “fire sale” of his assets after failing to obtain a bond to allow him to appeal against a New York civil court judgment amounting to US$454 million (NZ$747m).

Lawyers for the former president made a further plea yesterday against having to put up any cash in order to appeal, saying that raising the bond had proved to be a “practical impossibility”.

Trump, 77, has until Monday to appeal against last month’s judgment that for years he and his company falsified valuations to gain favourable terms from lenders and insurers. The US$355m judgment has already risen by about US$100m in interest.

Companies that provide bonds typically require collateral of 120%, amounting to US$557m, his lawyers said. Trump has been unable to convince any underwriter to accept his properties as surety.

His re-election campaign fundraising is also being used to pay legal fees as Trump insists his four criminal trials are part of a political witch-hunt to block his return to the White House.

Alan Garten, general counsel of the Trump Organisation, wrote in a court filing that Trump was “financially stable” but the fact that no provider has been willing to accept property as collateral “presents a major obstacle”.

Alina Habba and Clifford Robert, Trump's defence lawyers, wrote: “Obtaining such cash through a ‘fire sale’ of real estate holdings would inevitably result in massive, irrecoverable losses – textbook irreparable injury.”

New York attorney general Letitia James has insisted on the full bond amount for the appeal by warning that Trump could seek to avoid payment if he loses.

Yesterday Trump issued a further cash appeal to supporters in an email entitled “Bloodbath!”

This came after an outcry over his warning in Ohio on Sunday that there would be “a bloodbath for the country” if he were not re-elected, while talking about his plan to place tariffs on imported cars. – The Times

Life in Haiti is “almost like a scene out of Mad Max”, the head of the UN children’s agency has said.

Catherine Russell, executive director of Unicef, likened the country’s situation to the post-apocalyptic future portrayed in the film franchise as millions of vulnerable Haitians await the formation of a transitional governing council.

“Haiti is in a horrific situation,” Russell told the American talk show Face the Nation. “Many, many people there are suffering from serious hunger and malnutrition, and we’re not able to get enough aid to them.”

Gangs control key roads and much of Port-au-Prince, the capital. “It’s almost like a scene out of Mad Max,” she said.

Yesterday 12 bodies were found on the streets in Petionville, a once-upmarket area of Port-au-Prince. They are believed to have been the latest victims of a wave of vigilante justice that is becoming commonplace in a country effectively ruled by the criminal gangs.

Gunmen looted several large homes before dawn in the formerly peaceful mountainside communities of Laboule and Thomassin, forcing residents to flee. Some called radio stations pleading for help from the police, to no avail.

Haiti’s power company announced that four substations in the capital and elsewhere “were destroyed and rendered completely dysfunctional”. As a result, swathes of the capital were without power. Only one hospital in Port-au-Prince, which has a population of about one million, is functioning. Aid agencies are operating some mobile hospitals with limited facilities.

In the sprawling Cite Soleil slum, four out of 10 deaths are caused by violence, according to a survey by the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Haiti declared a state of emergency this month after Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, leader of an alliance of gangs, said they would overthrow Ariel Henry, 74, the prime minister.

In the days that followed all the key symbols of the state: the airport, police stations, prisons and government buildings were attacked. The pressure eventually forced Henry to announce his resignation eight days ago.

The security crisis has also hampered the distribution of aid. Foreign aid workers have been attacked or kidnapped for ransom and on Saturday gangs looted a Unicef shipment intended to provide relief for mothers and children.

The UN believes that the gangs, whose ranks have been boosted after attacks on two prisons freed thousands of inmates, have amassed arsenals of weapons trafficked largely from the United States.

Efforts continue to organise a Kenyan-led security mission to support the nation’s beleaguered police force.