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Donald Trump has faced financial difficulties throughout his adult life. In May 2019, The New York Times shined a light on the Republican’s finances from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, when the future president went from one failed venture to another, losing money at an extraordinary pace.
At one point, the report noted, Trump “appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer.”
That said, conditions now are significantly worse. In fact, in the wake of a $464 million judgment against him and his co-defendants in the Trump Organization’s fraud case, the former president is struggling mightily with a debt he doesn’t know how to pay, and a deadline he doesn’t know how to meet.
What’s more, Trump could try to borrow the money, but by all accounts, he’s struggled to find entities willing to make such resources available to him.
Making matters worse, as an NBC News report noted, the Republican must post the bond for the full amount he owes on Monday, or the New York attorney general’s office “can seize any of Trump’s bank accounts or properties, in any state, including Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago, among many others.” It’s precisely why Rachel said on Monday night’s show, “Donald Trump has never been more desperately in need of money than he is right this second.”
It’s against this backdrop that HuffPost noted:
Has Donald Trump asked Russia, Saudi Arabia or any other country for help paying his upcoming $464 million bond? Judging by Alina Habba’s response to exactly that question, he hasn’t not asked for it.
On a recent episode of The View, co-host Joy Behar wondered aloud about whether Trump, in desperation, might turn to foreign countries for a bailout. With this in mind, Fox News’ Martha MacCallum talked to Alina Habba on Wednesday and asked the former president’s lawyer about the speculation.
“Is there any effort on the part of your team to secure this money through another country, Saudi Arabia or Russia, as Joy Behar seems to think?” the Fox host asked.
Ideally, Habba would’ve said, “Of course not. Trump will not turn to Saudi Arabia or Russia for money.” But that wasn’t how she responded to the question.
“Well, there’s rules and regulations that are public,” Habba replied. “I can’t speak about strategy, that requires certain things, and we have to follow those rules.”
She then quickly shifted to rhetoric about “witch hunts” and “the demise of our country.”
To be sure, Habba in no way suggested that Trump has turned to Saudi Arabia or Russia for a bailout, or that the presumptive GOP nominee will turn to Saudi Arabia or Russia. But the fact that the lawyer didn’t answer the question directly was hardly reassuring.
HuffPost’s report went on to note that former White House national security advisor Susan Rice appeared on MSNBC and explained, “In the event that [Trump] has to take that money from an individual or an entity, whether domestic or international, that individual or entity will potentially have real influence over him, and so that is of concern.
“There’s just so many ways the stench of money from dubious places infuses his business enterprise, and so this would add more questions should that be the case going forward.”