What we know about Donald Trump's $454m bond payment deadline

Donald Trump's legal quagmire is becoming increasingly problematic as he continues his bid for the White House – with the businessman's inability to make a $454m (£360m) bond payment now in the spotlight.

The gargantuan payout is linked to a ruling in a fraud case that found Trump and his co-defendants – the executives and past executives of Trump companies – had committed "persistent fraud" over asset valuation.

The former US president has appealed the ruling, and the bond exists to ensure Trump can pay the debt if the ruling does not go his way – resulting in the $350m penalty charge, which has since risen to $454m with interest.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has approached more than 30 companies to help him pay the bond, known as an appeal bond, but has thus far failed to secure the financing to make the payment – and his deadline to do so is 25 March.

So what happens if Trump fails to make the payment, and could his legal issues affect his White House bid? Yahoo explains...

Why can't Trump make the bond payment himself?

Despite having made some serious money in business, and following his time as US president, Trump says he does not have access to the $454m needed to make the payment.

The former president's actual net worth is not known, although Forbes estimates he is worth around $2.6bn. However, Trump has testified that the Trump Organization did not have the required payment in liquid assets – he stated that the company had just $400m cash available, although this figure was estimated as lower by The New York Times.

Additionally, Trump's legal payouts are not limited to the New York civil fraud case as he has been required to pay a $100m appeal bond in a separate case. And while the Trump Organization has a lot of money in real estate, companies can refuse to take this.

What happens if Trump can't make the payment?

Trump has appealed against the bond payment - and the best case scenario for him is that his request is honoured. However, in the event that he is forced to pay, the former president will be in trouble.

His legal team have said that the companies Trump has approached for money are "unwilling" to take his property assets as collateral, “do not have the financial strength to handle a bond of this size” and are “unwilling to accept the risk associated with such a large bond".

Although he could attempt to continue to try borrowing money, it would be more likely that he would need to sell of some of his assets to generate the cash needed to pay the appeal bond. However, selling in such an urgent fashion would likely see the properties generate less than their net worth, hitting Trump in the wallet.

If he is unwilling to sell his properties to fund the bond, the court could seize property assets to cover the debt – something that New York State attorney general Letitia James has pledged to do if a payment is not made. “We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers,” she said last month.

Can Trump just declare himself bankrupt?

Yes and no. If the Trump Organization filed for bankruptcy, they would still be on the hook for the court-ordered bond payment. However, if Trump personally declared bankruptcy, the bond payment would be paused (potentially for long enough for Trump to aim to get the case tossed).

Given that he has long traded off his personal brand of being a "winner" in business, a bankruptcy filing seems unlikely, and would not put an end to his other legal troubles.

What other financial issues is Trump facing?

As well as the issue with the bond payment, Trump has also been ordered to pay the writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3m for damaging her reputation after she accused him of sexual assault. He also owes $110,000 in fines for failing to respond in a timely fashion to a subpoena in the case into his business practices, and $15,000 for disparaging a court clerk.

He was also ordered to pay The New York Times $400,000 in legal fees following an unsuccessful attempt to sue the newspaper, and has appealed against a further $938,000 judgement against him for filing a "frivolous" lawsuit against his former rival Hillary Clinton.

Are those of all his legal issues?

The bond payment issue is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Trump's legal issues. The former president is facing a total of 91 indictments, with the cases against him ranging from hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to alleged election subversion in Georgia.

Trump was also hit with more than 30 state cases that disputed his ability to run for president and argued he should not be on the ballot. However, the Supreme Court ruled that states could not legally prevent him from running for office.

That the numerous legal cases against Trump are building during an election year in which he is the presumptive Republican nominee is both a good and bad thing for the former president. The allegations against him appear to have done very little to dampen support from his core support base, and there is nothing in the constitution that would prevent Trump from being president if he was found guilty.

However, the cases are drawing a considerable amount of time and money from Trump, during a period when most presidential candidates would be focused on nothing but rallying support.

The worst outcome for Trump would be either having his cases heard before the election, or losing the election and facing the full wrath of the justice system. If Trump manages to see his cases postponed and then wins the election, he would be looking to shut down those cases as soon as he took office.