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.

    • Arbiter@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      His finances are a revolving door of debt, I’d wager any money he gets has to be sent paying back the more dangerous of loans he has taken out.

    • Adderbox76@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      My first thought as well.

      We all know he’s not nearly as wealthy as he likes to pretend, but it’d be nearly impossible to live his lifestyle without at least 200,000 in available cash.

      Likely he’s using his so-called “genius” business brain to intentionally Welch on the debt and snag himself a cool 90% discount on his bail.

      Why pay 200 when you can pay 20

      • Sludgeyy@lemmy.world
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        You pay 20 in cash because you get 20 in cash back if you show up to court

        If you take a loan with a bondsman, you lose a fee. 5 of the 20 is lost because you used a bondsman. Only get 15 back after you show up to court.

        You don’t want to use a bondsman unless you have to

        • gamer@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Maybe he anticipates more than 10% inflation before his court date and is just making smart money moves?

          • Sludgeyy@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I’m confused at what you mean

            Inflation hurts the value of your current money

            You always want more money

            Giving away a fee would just mean he has less less worthless money

            Best case scenario for him is he feels like keeping liquid capital is worth more than the fee and no one wanted to post bail for him.

            $20k. Some people he knows just cracked a bottle of wine worth that. Yet none of them would post his bail.

            That’s more telling than him just using a bail bondsman.

            • gamer@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago
              1. today he pays $200k to the court
              2. tomorrow everything is 10% more expensive, money buys less
              3. the next day, the court gives him $200k, but since everything got 10% more expensive, he is receiving less value than what he gave the court (approx. $180k of 2-days-ago-money)

              So he “loses” $20k, which is the same he would lose with the bail bondsman. The difference is that since he anticipates a %10 inflation, he can invest those $200k to try to earn a 10% return to make up the loss. If the money were just sitting in the court’s coffers, he couldn’t invest it, so it’d deteriorate in value.

              Makes sense in my head but its late so maybe it’s nonesense lol. I was completely joking anyways, there’s no way that’s what he’s doing.

              • Kethal@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                The general idea is not nonsense, but it’s unlikely he’s making a 10% return. Although, maybe he has some high interest loans out there, and he’s better off putting his money in those. That too would indicate a crappy financial position though.

              • Pretzilla@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Good macro econ point about the inflation factor.

                Inflation cost stacks on top of lost opportunity investment cost.

              • Sludgeyy@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                He only has to come up with 10% of total bail

                Let’s say bondsman premium is 10%

                So trump has to come up with 20k to give court

                Bondsman wants a 2k fee to loan 20k and be on hook for 200k (This is probably low. Bondsman probably wants more fee and collateral)

                So if trump keeps his 20k and puts it in a super special high yield savings account, it guarantees 10% return in the time between mugshot and court. (Unlikely)

                He withdraws 22k from SSHYSA after appearing in court. He has to pay 2k (this is assuming he doesn’t have to pay the fee upfront). He will have 20k.

                If he paid the bail in cash, he would have 20k.

                He has 20k in both scenarios. No matter inflation, he has 20k spending power in both scenarios

                Bail bondsman has to lend out 20k. Anyone using a bondsman is over a barrel. Their fee will be high. They also know they have to combat inflation themselves. If it’s better for them to put their money in the SSHYSA, then loan it out, they will.

                It’s possible for him to make money but unlikely with fee being really low and SSHYSA being really high.

                Inflation doesn’t really play a factor. Because investment into savings accounts doesn’t combat inflation. (This is the whole purpose of the fed wanting inflation, to deter people from savings, because spending helps drive economy) He’d have to use his current high purchasing power to buy something that is worth 20k today (Speed Boat) but worth 22k tomorrow because of inflation.

                Doesn’t matter if the 20k is sitting in court’s coffers or SSHYSA. It’s affected by inflation the same.

    • Sludgeyy@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      No

      You lose money using a bondsman

      There is a bail bond fee or premium associated with using a bondsman

      This is non-refundable to trump.

      If he comes up with the cash himself and cuts out the bondsman he would get all his money back from the court after showing up to court.

      Bondsman gets all money back if trump shows up to court. They are not losing a penny. But making money because of the fee or premium.

      Only way it would make sense is if he was really trying to skip town. Then, losing fee would be less than 10% of the bond.

        • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
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          They aren’t obligated to break the law and harbor Trump. They’re law enforcement, not bodyguards. The bounty hunter either talks to them about the situation, or a federal marshal does. Either way the results is they organize a very tight security detail around the arrested and jailed former president.

    • AlgonquinHawk@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Or he’s appealing to the morons who send him money on the regular for them to think, “oh know, he needs our funding!”

    • Emma_Gold_Man@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      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.

      • orclev@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That or he’s using his other favorite tactic and found a bondsman that’s on the verge of going bankrupt and he’s planning to stiff him and betting the guy won’t have enough money to take him to court over it. That said, he could also be in financial trouble. It’s been well known for a long time now that Trump pretends like his finances are MUCH better than they actually are, with him regularly bleeding money on failed ventures. There’s a reason he’s basically been running grifts for decades and just slapping his name on successful things run by other people instead of his own businesses. He was probably counting on using campaign funds and donations to cover his legal costs and got told he couldn’t, and his usual sugar daddies aren’t willing to pour money into him considering how unlikely he is to beat the current slate of charges.

        It’s also interesting that he recently “sold” Mar-A-Lago, although since he “sold” it to his son the move is more likely just to protect the property if he does end up in jail. Could also be to provide him some liquidity to cover his legal costs.

        • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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          He’s got 24/7 secret service protection just like every former president. I don’t think there’s any way he can actually flee unless he can flat out refuse secret service protection, which I’m sure he already knows is a significant risk to his personal security so he probably won’t.

          Honestly I strongly suspect he’s going to try to drag out every charge for as long as possible, use every legal and illegal tactic he can to avoid actually being sentenced to more than a fine, then if he ever sees actual jail time he’ll commit suicide. I can’t see him pulling a Skreli and doing a few months with his head low before getting out on good behavior

          • Hotzilla@sopuli.xyz
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            Why would protection service limit his movement? He can just jump to his private plane and fly to Russia. He definitely will extend this BS as long as possible and collect money from gullible people to “fund” his defence (meaning that he pockets the money)

    • newllama@lemmy.world
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      I think there’s logistical issues with paying your own bail in full. Like, the court has limited hours and may not accept wire transfers. It could be days before they can clear that kind of money and you’re in jail until that time. The bondsmen already have all that ready to go with the courts so they can do it instantly.

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

    • IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social
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      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.

      • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I am not American, so it might be the phrasing that confuses me.

        But is the 10% returned to the defendant? Or that’s a flat fee that the bondsman take?

        If that is the latter, then I understand why people are questioning why Trump is using a bondsman since he supposedly have the cash to cover the full bond that he will get back once he shows up.

        So either he plans to fuck off so he saved 90% of his bond, or he’s having cashflow issues.

        If it’s the former, then it make total sense to use a bondsman regardless of your fortune.

            • canthidium@lemmy.world
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              Exactly, if he actually had the money and doesn’t plan on skipping town, then he should have no problem putting that money up. I see a lot of people saying he’s not above running away, but I really don’t think his ego would let him. I think he truly believes he can beat the charges or win the election first, despite all the losses he’s already had.

        • clutchmatic@lemmy.world
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          You can consider the 10% as “interest” since the bondsman would have to cover the rest of the bail in case the indictee doesn’t show up

      • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        And they get their pay normally by keeping the 10% from the defendant. If the defendant skips town, they lose the other 90% unless they can locate the defendant and get them back to court.

      • LordOfTheChia@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s not a loan

        It pretty much is

        https://www.sevenslegal.com/criminal-attorney/bail-bail-bonds-work/418/

        HOW BAIL BONDS WORK

        Bail bonds are similar to personal loans. After putting down a small percentage for the total amount, a bail bondsman or agent, gives you the rest of the money needed for your bail. Like a loan officer, this bail bondsman or agent is similar to the lender of a personal loan.

        As an example, if your bail is $15,000, you or a family member would be required to make a deposit of $2,000. The bail bondsman or agent would then give you the $15,000 bail needed for you to “post bail.” Most bail bond companies also will require you to provide them with some type of collateral in order to get the remaining money needed for your bail bond. Collateral is usually a deed to your house, item of jewelry, or car. This collateral is used in order to secure the bail bonds’ loan in case you don’t show up at your appointed court date, in which case you would not get your money back. After your trial is over, and you receive your money back from the court, the money is returned to bail bond company you received your bail from.

        Due to the fact that this is a financial risk the bail bondsman and bail bond company take because of this loan, they will often take additional precautions to make sure you attend all of your court dates. The bail bondsman wants to make sure his or her company receives back all the bail money it loaned you. As a result of these precautions, bail bond companies will frequently do the following:

        Prefer a relative or friend put up the necessary collateral for your bond. This is because you will then be less likely to miss a court date since your relative’s or friend’s house or property is on the line in for your bail bond. Call you before each court date in order to remind your about your upcoming trial. Require you to make periodic check-ins at their bail bond office to make sure you haven’t left town. Like most defendants, you will probably agree that these precautions are a small prices to pay in order to be able to stay out of jail while waiting for a trial date or during your trial.

      • TitanLaGrange@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If the defendant fails to show up the bondsman has to pay the court the entire amount

        I’m curious, does the bondsman actually give the court cash, or just guarantee that they will if the defendant doesn’t show? And if that is the case, do they bond out more people than they actually have cash to cover, knowing that it is unlikely that they’ll ever have to cover all those positions?

        • canthidium@lemmy.world
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          Someone correct me, but I think it’s dependent on the court. But either way, that’s why they generally employ bounty hunters to track down the defendants to make sure they don’t have to pay the court the rest.

    • hypelightfly@kbin.social
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      Trump wouldn’t be the one paying it back. Unless you’re implying he’s going to not show up for trial.

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

        • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
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          The top dogs all know. They have tried multiple times to push him aside. Propping up desantis, having rules for the debates that are targeted at trump etc. It doesn’t work and they are happy to use him when it suits them. The question is will it blow up in their faces to personally damage them or just the party and they will take their I’ll gotten gains and slink away.

      • doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        A few, maybe. But I worry that anyone who’s still on the Trump train at this point may be on it for life. They’ll rationalize that he was forced out of the country by a crooked liberal conspiracy.

    • grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world
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      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.

  • Cyberflunk@lemmy.world
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    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.

  • insomniac@sh.itjust.works
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    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
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      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.

    • doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      I believe the terms of bonds in Georgia are that 10% must be posted by the defendant. This is the absolute least of his own money he could put up and not have to sit in jail until trial.

      EDIT: I’m at least partially wrong here. With a bond you’re giving a percentage of your bail to a 3rd party who will in turn post the full bail amount for you. When you show up to trial, they get the bail back and pocket the percentage you paid. The only reasons you’d take bond over bail is if you can’t afford the full amount, or you think you can make more money than the percentage by investing that money in something.

      Still seems like this is the cheapest way for him to stay out of jail in the short term. Lord knows a bondsman’s bounty hunter would have his work cut out bringing in a former president…

      • Meldroc@lemmy.world
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        I imagine if TFG was dumb enough to try to jump bail (yeah, he very well might be that dumb), the judge would simply phone the Secret Service. They’re law enforcement so even if they won’t arrest him themselves, when the sheriff or federal marshals call, they’ll simply arrange a protection detail around Trump and the deputies and keep Trump very safe as he’s arrested and hauled into custody.

              • Jax@sh.itjust.works
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                Guys, murder is wrong. We should take the time to consider that they’re human beings!

                Chemical castration is a much more humane strategy. Come on guys. Do better.

                • III@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Eh, I don’t know about that path. They are already an army of small-dick energy, I can’t fathom the power levels they reach by further reducing their sense of manliness.

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          He is being seem as a martyr right now for just being charged with crimes, so being a literal martyr wouldn’t be any worse. It isn’t like he stood for something that would keep going, the only momentum his shitty followers have is seeing more of him on TV.

          That said, I would rather keep the ss protection so he can rot in jail.

        • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
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          Pretty much. Lock him in an isolated prison cell, being guarded by Secret Service members with Top Secret clearance. It’s the only way to prevent him from blabbing Top Secret intel to whichever prison guards will listen.

      • CTdummy@artemis.camp
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        No way. It’s not worth him getting assassinated by some lunatic. Honestly even if he’s successfully indicted he should be on house arrest. Lock his pudgy arse up but he has to be kept safe for obvious reason.

    • timespace@lemmy.world
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      That’s not how bail bonds work. If you use a bail bondsman, you pay a non-refundable fee (10% of the bail amount) upfront.

      If he had the money, he should have paid the full bail himself. That amount is fully refunded so long as he appears to court.

      I think that’s correct…I’m not a bail bondsman and I’ve never used one, but I did watch Dog the Bounty Hunter once or thirty times

      • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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        That would be by far this best reality TV appearance yet.

        The apprentice fugitive - starring former president and felon Donald J Trump and Dog the Bounty Hunter.

        …though Dog would almost certainly be helping teach Trump the tricks of the trade.

  • #!/usr/bin/woof@lemmy.sdf.org
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    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?

    • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
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      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. Looks 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.

      • wolfpack86@lemmy.world
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        Completely agree with you, however if trump thought he would get more than 20k in returns on the 180k in principle he saved, this also is a good financial play.

        That said, 200k is petty cash for a billionaire. Or should be, if one was.

        • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
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          I suppose a big factor is how long until trial. If it’s less than a year, it seems unlikely he’d get that, but if he manages to stretch it out to multiple years, he’d get that easily.

        • somethingsnappy@lemmy.world
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          It’s .02%, or .0002 of a billion. That’s a whoops it slipped out of my pocket while I was changing my diaper kind of petty cash.

      • Wrench@lemmy.world
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        Depending on how long it is until hed get the deposit back, they money may be better off invested.

        I don’t know the schedule, but I think it’s supposed to be expedited because of the upcoming election. But if Trump is successful in stalling it, who knows how long that money would be tied up.

        IMO he’s probably planning on playing games and no showing, but it may make sense financially too depending on their plan

        • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
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          Funny, I just said basically the same thing to someone else. Yeah, if he pushes it out a couple years, he’d really make more investing it.

          • Wrench@lemmy.world
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            Yep. I’d say that no matter what, it’s a bad idea to do business w Trump, but it may be worth 20 or 200k to the bail bondsman for the notoriety

    • alvvayson@lemmy.world
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      Not exactly. Rich people pay cash when doing so avoids fees. It would only make financial sense if bail bonds in Georgia go for below market rates.

      If he could have paid bail through a PAC or one of his companies, that would most probably be cheaper.

      He likely doesn’t have $200K to his personal name (to avoid tax) and is probably not allowed to pay bail from his PAC or company.

      • criticon@lemmy.ca
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        Rich people take loans when the loan is cheaper than an investment. If he can borrow at 10% and has money making. 12% there’s no reason not to take the loan. Rich people almost never use cash and they have very few cash in hand

        • alvvayson@lemmy.world
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          No, absolutely not.

          No rich person is paying retail interest rates of 10%.

          If Trump could access his PAC money, he would be paying the bond in cash and have a loan against his PAC with favourable terms.

          Rich people almost always pay cash with funds secured by low interest loans from their company or private bank.

          Not all loans are created equal. High interest retail debt is for poor people to get stuck in debt traps. Low interest financing is for rich people to avoid taxes and leverage their money for more.

    • nothing@lemm.ee
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      Seriously this. Or if the borrowing rate is less than what you can make in the mean time by keeping it, why would you?

      • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        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.

        • TechnoBabble@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          That’s how it’s supposed to work, but in many counties the bondsman doesn’t actually front any cash to the court, and they don’t get charged if the suspect runs. They operate as a sort of slush fund for the owners, the officials, and the cops.

          So these companies are often just another way to siphon money from people accused of a crime.

          Super shady stuff.

          • raptir@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Honest but unpopular answer? He might believe he can make more money holding on to the $180k. It’s the same reason why I would take a 2% car loan even if I had enough to buy the car outright. I can make more than 2% just keeping that money in a mutual fund.

            • xantoxis@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              It’s not so much that this would be a valid (if boring) financial strategy.

              It’s the fact that Trump is actually a terrible fucking businessman. To the extent that he makes any money at all, he makes it by borrowing money and resources and then never giving back anything in return. And he STILL lets casinos go bankrupt. He’s completely incompetent, which makes it hard to believe he would take the valid (if boring) strategy of reinvesting the 180k.

            • doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              That’s possibly what he’s thinking, but making back 20k on 180k (11%) before his trial ends seems like a bit of a tall order. Especially for someone who’s business accumen is a bit suspect. Not necessarily impossible, depending on how long the trial takes.

              Of course he may just feel that keeping the capital fluid is a more prudent decision right now. Or he’s broke. No way to be sure ¯_(ツ)_/¯

          • TheDude@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            Because he will use other people’s money rather than his own at every chance he can get.

                • takeda@kbin.social
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                  1 year ago

                  If he feels that he really goes to jail I don’t think he will care about 2024 anymore. And he doesn’t have to leave in his own plane. He still has people who are willing to help him.

                  In any case I’m sure the bondsman is also his fan and probably wouldn’t even mind losing the money.

  • IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    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
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      1 year ago

      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.

      • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        So either he’s gonna need that 200k in Russia and won’t be getting it back because he won’t be showing up in court, he doesn’t care about a 20k deposit and doesn’t mind losing it, or he doesn’t have enough money to pay the 200k and needed a better deal. I’m betting on option 3 but option 1 is a possibility.

      • obviouspornalt@lemmynsfw.com
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        1 year ago

        I’m wondering if his entire life just runs on lines of credit and he never really has any cash on hand. If that’s the case, he’s such a poor credit risk, he might be paying close to 10% interest on his credit anyway, so a bond that he only has to pay 10% on and might last more than a year may actually save him money if he would have had to draw on a line of credit for the $200K.

      • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        He openly said at a rally last week or so that he, “hates living in America,” and would rather live in France.

        I maintain he said France because he couldn’t say Russia, and he couldn’t remember another allied countries name at the time

      • xT1TANx@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Haha I made this comment expecting this kind of response and I am really ok with anything t Bondsmen need to do to get their money back in this instance

        • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Or they’re a MAGA cult member who thinks their righteous leader who 10000% definitely, for sure donated his presidential salary just like he said, so why wouldn’t he pay back the 200k