this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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Donald Trump reportedly used a bail bondsman after being arrested at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, paying $20,000 of his bond set at $200,000 and taking out a loan for the rest of it. The fact that the former president resorted to such a measure has sparked questions on social media about the state of his finances.

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[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 96 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Why pay $200k when you can pay $20k and then refuse to repay the other $180k?

[–] Emma_Gold_Man@lemmy.dbzer0.com 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Because if you pay the $200k you get it back when the case is over. The $20k is gone forever.

That's assuming the judge doesn't decide you've violated the bond conditions forfeit the bond. If that happens, the bondsman's going to go after you for the full $200k in addition to what you paid though, and you still wind up $20k poorer than if you put up the full amount in the first place.

What probably happened is that he plans to use his usual delaying tactics and run the case out for several years, so his accountants decided they could earn at least 11% on the remaining $180k by the time the case is up, making it cheaper to pay the $20k up front.

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[–] aseriesoftubes@lemmy.world 85 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

The bail bondsman who gave him that loan is the biggest sucker in the whole MAGA kingdom. That $180,000 will never be seen again.

Edit: Nevermind, I didn’t understand how bail works.

[–] chaogomu@kbin.social 80 points 1 year ago (2 children)

A bail bondsman has more legal options for going after someone than any other type of loan officer, including the use of bounty hunters.

[–] nul9o9@lemmy.world 112 points 1 year ago (16 children)

Imagine working as a bounty hunter going after a US President.

[–] CompostMaterial@lemmy.world 90 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Kbobabob@lemmy.world 41 points 1 year ago (1 children)

4 times indicted former US president**.

**This has only ever been known to happen once in the history of the country

[–] morphballganon@mtgzone.com 37 points 1 year ago

Don't forget twice impeached, zero-time winner of the popular vote

[–] CylonBunny@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Sounds like a movie, but I wouldn’t want to be the bounty hunter tasked with going up against the Secret Service! Though this does raise questions about the Secrets Service’s responsibility to protect against legally sanctioned law enforcement (of sorts).

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[–] IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social 39 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (9 children)

That’s not how bail bonds works. It’s not a loan. You pay the bondsman 10%. Then the bondsman guarantees that the defendant will show up to his court dates. If the defendant fails to show up the bondsman has to pay the court the entire amount. Bondsman often use bounty hunters to pick up defendants who haven’t shown up.

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[–] jafo@lemmy.world 69 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Is he poor? Maybe. The question is why is he poor? He just sold Mar-a-lago to a company owned by Don Jr., alledgedly for something over $400 million.

He might be poor because he's hiding all his assets on offshore banks. If so, then the question becomes: why is he doing that?

[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 26 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Man, I really hope he runs. Just to see Republican faces when he abandons them and maybe a few finally realize they were conned.

[–] Stanwich@lemmy.world 42 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Jfc. Where have you've been? THEY WILL NEVER TURN ON HIM.

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[–] grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

I'm guessing he's worried about his assets being seized once his involvement with criminal money laundering for Russian mobsters comes to light. And emoluments. And using his position as an elected official to enrich himself by having the secret service stay at his properties paying exorbitant amounts above market value. And so on.

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[–] Cyberflunk@lemmy.world 66 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What a stupid fucking bondsman to take that risk. Let's see you bounty him.

Wait..

I want to see Dogg the bounty hunter cap doofus McGee.

[–] JustZ@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

Dogg would just suck his dick and let him go.

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[–] Rapidcreek@reddthat.com 64 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Trump is just using the first rule of being rich...use other people's money.

[–] Boddhisatva@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

Particularly if you think you might decide to skip out at some point.

[–] insomniac@sh.itjust.works 62 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

He’s obviously not poor enough to not be able to come up with 20 grand. But if your backup plan is to flee the country, why put up any of your own money? He’s going to try to be in Moscow or some other country that won’t extradite him if it starts looking bad. He might not actually pull it off but he’s dumb enough to think he can.

[–] gamer@lemm.ee 49 points 1 year ago (3 children)

My head canon for that timeline involves him being hunted down for betraying the united states, and his corpse dumped in the ocean like bin laden so that his grave site doesn’t become a place of worship for republicans.

[–] Saneless@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 year ago

Saving this in case I ever have trouble getting an erection later

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[–] WaxedWookie@lemmy.world 55 points 1 year ago (1 children)

...or he'll just skip out on the bondsman like most of his other creditors.

[–] NotYourSocialWorker@feddit.nu 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Looking forward to the documentary of bounty hunters trying to catch him 😊

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[–] RickRussell_CA@kbin.social 47 points 1 year ago (15 children)

He's rich. First rule of being rich is never pay when you can borrow.

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (8 children)

But this isn't the same kind of thing. When the court sets bail, you give them that amount as like a deposit. When you show up to court, you get it back. Lots of people don't have the cash though, so they go to a ball bondsman, give them 10% of the total amount, and the bondsman pays the court the whole amount. When you show up to court, the bondsman gets that amount back, and they keep your 10%.

So yes, it's a loan, but it's a really shitty loan. I can't see how he wouldn't be better off just paying the full amount himself unless he thinks he can successfully skip town.

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[–] jhoward@lemmy.sdf.org 42 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do we even know for sure any money changed hands? Maybe the bail bonds person is a cult 45 member and sees it as service to the dear leader? Admittedly, my bail bonds knowledge is limited to late night cheesy commercials and an episode and a half of dog the bounty hunter, but I got the impression they're something of a shady character; someone who'd be at home in the cult. No?

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[–] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 39 points 1 year ago (2 children)

ITT: So, so many people not understanding bail, or bail bondsmen.

[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Mind expand a bit on that, please, then?

[–] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Bail is essentially the court saying “give us this money, and when you show up for court you will get that money back.”

A bail bondsmen takes 10% as payment, giving the court the bail money. They will go so far as to hire bounty hunters to hunt you down, making sure you show up to court. When the court gives back the bail, they get to keep both the bail money (obviously) but also the 10% payment.

There’s no loan involved, the bail is more of a hold, and the bond is more of a payment. Trump isn’t paying less, he is literally paying a 10% bond to not have the full bail held. (Though it could be argued that the $180k could be used to make back the $20k but that’s a different discussion.) The bondsman has already received payment, there’s no concern of non payment by Trump.

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[–] IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social 37 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wow can’t believe Newsweek didn’t even do their due diligence. A bail bond is not a loan. You pay a bondsman 10% and then the bail bondsman guarantees the court that you will show up on the court date. If you fail to show up the bondsman has to pay the court the full amount.

[–] blattrules@lemmy.world 45 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I think the point is that he paid the 10% rather than front the $200k out of his own pocket. The 10% he doesn’t get back since he used a bail bondsman, but he would have gotten the full $200k back when he showed up in court had he used his own money.

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[–] TheJims@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lock Him Up

He’s never going to stop committing crimes

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[–] HakFoo@lemmy.sdf.org 19 points 1 year ago

Even if it blew up in their face, I could see a non-sycophant reason for supplying Trump a bond, potentially with sweetheart terms: it would be the ultimate marketing coup within the industry. "We bailed out the highest profile defendant in American history, sure we can help you with your sixth DUI of the week!"

[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago

Any bondsman stupid enough to lend this clown money deserves to lose it when Trump inevitablely refuses to pay it back.

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