MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Miami-Dade woman launched a GoFundMe page Friday to raise nearly $355 million that former President Donald Trump was fined after his New York civil fraud trial concluded.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron on Friday ordered Trump and his companies to pay $354,868,768 million in penalties, finding that the former president lied about his wealth for years in a sweeping civil fraud verdict that pierces his billionaire image but stops short of putting his real estate empire out of business.
Following the verdict, Trump lashed out at Engoron as “crooked” and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who filed the lawsuit in 2022, as “totally corrupt.” He claimed that the court’s decision was “election interference” and vowed to file an appeal.
Elena Cardone, of Aventura, announced a short time later on X, that she had started a GoFundMe page to foot the bill. According to Forbes, Trump had a net worth of about $2.6 billion as of September.
Elena Cardone is the wife of real estate investor and influencer Grant Cardone.
“When you can allow this to happen to one property owner, this can happen to everyone,” she said. “Now it’s about, I have no other choice but to stand up and represent property owners and business owners in America.”
The page, titled “Stand with Trump; Fund the $355M Unjust Judgment,” had raised over $18,000 of the roughly $355 million about five hours after it was launched, according to the New York Post.
Elena Cardone, who described herself as “an ardent supporter of American values and an advocate for justice,” said on the page that the fundraiser was intended to allow “patriots” who “stand with Trump” to “show our collective strength and resolve.”
“This is more than a legal fund; it’s a clarion call to all patriots to rally in defense of a man who has never hesitated to stand in defense of us,” she wrote. “It’s about showing that when one of us is targeted for championing the values that make America great, he does not stand alone.”
Grant Cardone also wrote on X that donors would be “standing together against unjust rulings like this where a bias judges [sic] & corrupt legal system is out of control.”
The GoFundMe account has already raised more than $84,000 as of Saturday afternoon.
Local 10 News reporter Hatzel Vela contributed to this story.