Rep. Ted Lieu was criticized by Mark Cuban for claiming Donald Trump was lying about being a billionaire because he could not secure a $464 million appeal bond following a civil fraud judgment against him.
Cuban acknowledged not supporting Trump, but said Lieu was wrong to equate inability to pay the bond to lying about net worth, noting net worth differs from liquid assets.
“Trump claims he is a billionaire. But he can’t pay a $464 million [judgment],” Lieu wrote. “That means he is lying. How do I know? Math.”
Trump claims he is a billionaire. But he can’t pay a $464 million judgement. That means he is lying. How do I know? Math.#TrumpIsBroke https://t.co/OSS0nR8d6r
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 18, 2024
“How anyone can vote for someone who has so many of his executive employees turn on him, and say he is incompetent is beyond me,” Cuban wrote. “But you are wrong on this topic Ted.”
Cuban explained that in a low interest rate environment, it is not unusual for people to avoid keeping large portions of their worth as cash.
He also said Trump’s assets like real estate would not be accepted as collateral by bond companies in the current market.
While acknowledging Trump may have lied to banks, Cuban argued the bond requirement was unprecedented and Trump’s foreign and commercial real estate assets would not qualify for loans from bond companies given current conditions.
“Keeping cash in the bank or even money markets was dumb. In fact, searching for yield is what killed small banks last year,” Cuban wrote. “Also dumb was keeping interest rates that low for that long. Something Trump demanded more of.”
“And as far as the bond companies, Trump’s assets are mostly interests in commercial real estate and foreign assets,” he said. “No bond company is loaning against them in this commercial real estate market, if ever.”
Trump’s filing stated, “ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is ‘a practical impossibility.’”
“A bond requirement of this enormous magnitude – effectively requiring cash reserves approaching $1 billion…is unprecedented for a private company,” the filing read.
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