White House: President Trump will go on patrol
White House Deputy Press Secretary, Harrison Fields, joins LiveNOW from FOX to talk about President Trump’s initiatives. Tonight President Trump will go on patrol in D.C. along with National Guard members.
NEW YORK – A New York appeals court threw out President Donald Trump’s civil fraud penalty while upholding a judge’s findings that he exaggerated his wealth for decades.
Appeals court throws out civil fraud penalty against Trump
The panel was sharply divided, issuing 323 pages of concurring and dissenting opinions with no majority. Rather, some judges endorsed parts of their colleagues’ findings while denouncing others, enabling the court to rule.
What they’re saying:
The five judges said the verdict, which stood to cost Trump more than $515 million and rock his real estate empire, was “excessive.”
“While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants’ business culture, the court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” Judges Dianne T. Renwick and Peter H. Moulton wrote in one of several opinions shaping the appeals court’s ruling.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office on August 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Trump took to Truth Social to declare a “total victory” and rail against New York Attorney General Letitia James and the original trial judge, Arthur Engoron.
“TOTAL VICTORY in the FAKE New York State Attorney General Letitia James Case!” Trump wrote. “I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision that was hurting Business all throughout New York State. Others were afraid to do business there. The amount, including Interest and Penalties, was over $550 Million Dollars. It was a Political Witch Hunt, in a business sense, the likes of which no one has ever seen before.”
What’s next:
Still, the five-member panel all upheld findings that Trump and his company were liable, affirming that James acted within her authority and that injunctive relief to curb Trump Organization practices was appropriate.
The ruling spares Trump from a potential half-billion-dollar fine but bans him and his two eldest sons from serving in corporate leadership for a few years.
This means the ruling leaves liability intact but eliminates the massive financial penalty.
RELATED: Trump to patrol DC with military and law enforcement Thursday night, officials say
Because the judges were split on liability, the case is now likely headed to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.
Legal obstacles continue for Trump
The backstory:
After finding Trump engaged in fraud by padding financial statements that went to lenders and insurers, Engoron ordered him last year to pay $355 million in penalties. With interest, the sum has topped $515 million.
The civil fraud case was just one of several legal obstacles for Trump as he campaigned and won a second term as president.
On Jan. 10, he was sentenced in his criminal hush money case to what’s known as an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction on the books but sparing him jail, probation, a fine or other punishment. He is still appealing the conviction.
And in December, a federal appeals court upheld a jury’s finding that Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and later defamed her, affirming a $5 million judgment against him. The appeals court declined in June to reconsider. Trump still can try to get the Supreme Court to hear his appeal.
Trump is also appealing a subsequent verdict that requires him to pay Carroll $83.3 million for additional defamation claims.
The Source: This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press contributed.
