Donald J. Trump offered a New York appeals court on Wednesday a bond of only $100 million to pause the more than $450 million judgment he faces in his civil fraud case, saying that he might need to sell some of his properties unless he gets relief.
An appellate court judge promptly denied Mr. Trump’s emergency request to halt the financial judgment, but the former president is not out of options. Mr. Trump can try again with a panel of five appellate court judges, which will entertain his request next month.
However that panel rules, the request represented a stunning acknowledgment that the former president, who is racing the clock to secure a bond from a company for the full amount if he does not produce the money himself, lacks the resources to do so.
If he fails, the New York attorney general’s office, which brought the fraud case, could seek to collect from Mr. Trump at any moment, though it is expected to provide him with a 30-day grace period until March 25.
In a filing with the appeals court, Mr. Trump’s lawyers also asked to delay a wide range of other punishments that the trial judge in the fraud case, Arthur F. Engoron, levied in a decision this month. They include a prohibition on obtaining a loan from a New York bank for three years and a ban on running a company in the state during that same period.
The appellate court judge assigned to consider Mr. Trump’s filing on Wednesday granted the former president’s request to temporarily pause those punishments, a decision that could help him obtain a loan or a bond.
Justice Engoron’s bar on Mr. Trump obtaining new loans from New York banks would constrain his ability to either produce the money himself or have enough cash to pledge as collateral for a bond, his lawyers had argued.
In seeking relief, Mr. Trump’s lawyers disclosed that he would be unable to secure a bond for the full $454 million, raising the prospect that he might soon default on the judgment if the full appeals court denies his request.
Under New York law, a defendant also owes 9 percent interest to the plaintiff until the judgment is paid or the appeal resolved, meaning a full bond in this case might reach $500 million or more.
If the appeals court denies the request, Mr. Trump’s lawyers warned, he likely would have to sell some New York properties “under exigent circumstances,” in what would be a punishing blow to the former president.
“The exorbitant and punitive amount of the judgment coupled with an unlawful and unconstitutional blanket prohibition on lending transactions would make it impossible to secure and post a complete bond,” the lawyers wrote.
Mr. Trump might eventually be able to secure a bigger bond. His stake in Trump Media & Technology Group, his social media company, could be worth up to $4 billion after a long-delayed merger is made final this year.
Posting a bond that the appeals court accepts would prevent the attorney general, Letitia James, from collecting the judgment until Mr. Trump’s appeal is resolved. Without a bond or pause from the court, Ms. James can seize Mr. Trump’s bank accounts and potentially take control of his New York properties.
In its own filing, Ms. James’s office asked the appeals court to deny Mr. Trump’s request.
“There is no merit to defendants’ contention that a full bond or deposit is unnecessary because they are willing to post a partial undertaking of less than a quarter of the judgment amount,” the attorney general’s office wrote. “Defendants all but concede that Mr. Trump has insufficient liquid assets to satisfy the judgment.”
Ms. James built her case on the accusation that Mr. Trump had fraudulently inflated his net worth by as much as $2 billion. He did so, Ms. James argued, to obtain favorable loans and other financial benefits.
Justice Engoron sided with Ms. James, concluding that Mr. Trump defrauded his lenders, who had expected him to maintain a certain net worth.
Mr. Trump’s net worth is largely…
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