The consequences of Donald Trump’s huge fine for fraud

IT DOES NOT bode well when a judge, before meting out a punishment, tells a defendant that his lack of remorse “borders on pathological”. Sure enough, that dressing-down of Donald Trump preceded an enormous fine in a civil ruling on February 16th. A judge in New York ordered him and his property business to pay $355m (plus an estimated $86m in interest) for cooking the books over several years. Time and again the Trump Organisation inflated asset values to secure better loan terms, the judge found. New York’s attorney-general, who brought the lawsuit, said Mr Trump had “full knowledge of and responsibility for” the scheme.Mr Trump called the case a “fraud on me” and promised to appeal. He may have to cough up only a portion of the fine while that is pending—how much exactly will be up to the judge. The penalty comes on top of an $88m award , a writer whom Mr Trump sexually assaulted decades ago and then defamed over the past few years. Mr Trump should be able to pay both without having to sell much in the way of assets: last year in a deposition he said he had “substantially” more than $400m in cash on hand. But there is no escaping the fact that he is personally on the hook. Neither fine can be satisfied with campaign funds, which he has in his four criminal trials. (The first of those, over hush money paid to a porn star, starts next month in New York.)