As deadline day dawns for Donald Trump to pay the $464m bond in his New York civil fraud case, the Republican presidential candidate has been claiming that he has nearly $500m “in cash” despite his own attorneys telling a New York court that he cannot come up with the money.

       Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed that he is worth several billions of dollars, with much of that value tied up in the Trump Organization and his brand-building real estate holdings.

       And before Monday’s deadline to post the mammoth bond, the former president declared in an all-caps post on his Truth Social platform that he had earned the “almost” $500m he alleges Democrats are trying to take away from him “through hard work, talent and luck”.

       That “substantial amount” was intended for his presidential campaign, he said.

       New York attorney general Letitia James is preparing to seize Mr Trump’s assets if he is unable to come up with the money he needs to appeal the outcome of his Manhattan fraud trial.

       Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s aforementioned Truth Social network, which he launched in the aftermath of January 6, is headed for Wall Street after shareholders voted to take the company public.