Trump Posts $175M Bond, Thanks to Billionaire Don Hankey

Donald Trump has posted a $175 million bond in his New York State civil trial, just one week after an appeals court ruled he wouldn’t need to immediately post over $454 million in a civil fraud case against him and his company. The bond, provided by California-based Knight Specialty Insurance Company, allows Trump to delay payment of the full bond while he appeals, as long as he posted $175 million within 10 days.

Don Hankey, the chairman of Knight Insurance, stated that his company initiated the deal, reaching out to Trump just days before the appeals court lowered the amount Trump would have to pay. Hankey, a billionaire known for his auto-services empire, confirmed he had supported Trump’s political campaigns in the past but had never met or spoken to him before this deal. The bond was secured with a combination of cash and investment-grade bonds.

This isn’t the first time Hankey has been involved with Trump. He was the largest individual owner of Axos Financial, the lender that bailed out Trump by refinancing his mortgages at Trump Tower and his Miami resort in 2022. Axos had also done business with Jared Kushner’s family, Trump’s son-in-law.

The fact that Trump has come up with the money means he can protect his assets from New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, who had warned she would start seizing properties in late March. In February, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump had fraudulently misstated the value of his and his company’s assets on financial statements, ordering him to pay $354.9 million plus a nine percent interest rate that started accruing in March 2019.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.