As the deadline was approaching for Trump to pay his New York judgment, Joe Biden and Democrats decided to pivot to mock Trump for his financial woes.
That strategy backfired rather quickly, as “DJT” soared during its first two days on the NASDAQ exchange.
Talking Points…
- New Biden campaign strategy
- Trump stock soars
- Analysis
Early Monday, the clock was ticking for Trump to pay his judgment. He had to come up with nearly $500 million, barring any last-minute intervention by the appellate court. Over the weekend, Trump bragged that he had the money, but even if he had that much liquid cash, it would have virtually cleaned him out.
So, the Biden campaign and its surrogates started to focus on Trump’s financial woes to hit him. For instance, former White House spokesperson Alexandra LaManna stated:
“Trump is nothing without his brand, and that includes how he portrays his purported wealth.
“The campaign is reminding voters that it’s a facade, and that he is actually having a hard time with money: He owes a ton of money in a fraud case, and he’s struggling to raise money from the donors paying his legal bills.”
Right after Trump held his press conference, Joe Biden was cracking jokes about not being able to help Trump with student loan debt as well as referring to him as “broke Don.” Then Biden’s campaign went after Trump, stating:
“His campaign can’t raise money, he is uninterested in campaigning outside his country club, and every time he opens his mouth, he pushes moderate and suburban voters away with his dangerous agenda.
“America deserves better than a feeble, confused, and tired Donald Trump.”
That campaign strategy was very short-lived, as Trump’s net worth exploded this week after Truth Social’s parent company went live on NASDAQ under the trading symbol “DJT.” After the stock’s first day, the price rose by nearly 50%, ending the day at $57.99.
Now, on Thursday, the stock was still holding its value, trading at $63.82 as of 10.25 a.m. CDT. This has more than doubled Trump’s net worth, as the stock alone is worth more than $4 billion with his 60% stake in the company. That is all on paper, though, as it did not help Trump with his judgment settlement, but the appellate court did, reducing the bond to $175 million, which Trump stated he would pay. The former president said:
“I have a lot of cash.
“We’ll put up cash or bond very quickly, securities, cash, or bond, whatever it is. We’ll put it up very quickly, and we’ll win the case.”
For Trump, I think the appellate court ruling was more important than how the DJT stock took off because, as I noted, that is only paper wealth. Not to mention, Trump cannot even sell off his stock yet unless he gets an exemption from the board, as it is currently frozen. I say the appellate ruling was more important because of the valuations that New York Attorney General Letitia James was using for Trump’s properties.
With the size of that judgment and the low valuations, she would have been able to seize virtually his entire real estate portfolio. For instance, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago was only valued at about $18 million, when that property is easily worth more than $500 million, and that is on the low end. This also gives Trump more time to sell off a property if he has to in order to pay the judgment if he loses his appeal. So, he is no longer in “fire sale” mode to pay the judgment. I also think that Trump will either win on appeal or have the judgment significantly reduced, which will be a crushing blow to James.
