Desperate Trump Abandoned by Rich Friends, Begs for Money to Pay Fines: A Closer Look

-Donald Trump is drowning financially

and begging people for money

as he struggles to pay the legal fines

he owes from his civil fraud trial,

and now a trial date has been set for his hush money case.

For more on this, it's time for A Closer Look.

♪♪

Today was a huge legal day for Donald Trump,

and I know I say that a lot, but it's also true a lot.

First, he appeared in a Manhattan court case

for his hush money case, where a judge ruled that a trial

will begin on April 15th, and Trump was

uncharacteristically tight-lipped when he arrived.

[ Camera shutters clicking ]

That's it?

He's starting to sound like a burned out hypnotist.

"You're getting very sleepy.

Okay. Now you're a chicken. Thank you."

You know it's bad when he can't even bring himself to stop

and rant for 45 minutes about Sleepy Joe

or Hunter's laptop or windmills.

He just goes through the motions on a couple

of catchphrases and wanders off.

It's like seeing a depressed Buzz Lightyear in Times Square

smoking a cigarette.

"To infinity and beyond. Now give me five bucks

and [bleep] off."

Trump also got a lifeline from an appeals court today,

which ruled that he has ten days to post a bond of $175 million,

which is still massive,

but less than the total $454 million in fines

that he owes from his civil fraud trial.

New York authorities were preparing to seize

Trump's properties if he couldn't come up with the cash,

which set him off. Shortly after midnight,

Trump posted this incomprehensible screed

on social media...

"Nurtue."

[ Audience laughing ]

Mad about that part.

Now that's a lot of words, so we translated it

from Trump to English, and here's what it means...

"I don't have the money. Frowny face emoji."

The whole thing punctures the central myth

of Trump's life and career.

As you recall, one of the very first things

Trump told us about himself

when he announced his campaign back in 2015

was that we could trust him to be independent

because he didn't need anyone else's money.

-Here's the good news I'm very rich.

I don't need anybody's money. It's nice.

I don't need anybody's money.

I'm using my own money. I'm not using the lobbyists.

I'm not using donors. I don't care.

I don't want their money. I don't need their money.

I'm turning down millions of dollars

for the campaign -- millions.

Everybody's offering me money, and I don't want it.

So I'm turning down millions of dollars.

-"I'm turning down millions of dollars,

and I definitely won't come to regret it."

As a general rule, if you're the kind of guy

who knowingly breaks laws and commits fraud,

you probably shouldn't go around bragging

that you'll never need anyone's money.

It's like an Alaska Airlines flight attendants saying

"In case of an emergency, although who are we kidding?

Nothing bad is going to happen. This is a Boeing plane."

Of course, Trump not taking money wasn't true at the time.

Trump raised millions in 2016.

It's especially untrue now when he and his allies are on TV

all the time, begging for money.

-I am very humbly asking if you could chip in five,

10, or even $25.

If you could chip in, if you've done well,

if you remember those great four years

that we had where you made a lot, we need your help.

-You need to help this man, Donald J. Trump.

They're trying to drain him dry.

Give the president some money to fight this bull [bleep].

Stand up and help the man.

Pray for our country. Pray for him.

Go to DonaldJTrump.com and give money

so he can defend themselves.

America literally is at stake as we know it.

I'm sorry I'm so upset, but please help President Trump.

If you can afford 5 or 10 bucks,

if you can't afford a dollar, fine.

Just pray. Pray for this country.

Pray for this president.

And if you got any money to give, give it.

-This is the worst ASPCA commercial I've ever seen.

Soon, Lindsey is going to start singing Sarah McLaughlin

over pictures of Trump looking sad.

♪ In the arms of an angel ♪

"What's that, Mee-maw? What?

Well, maybe I could carry a tune better

if I wasn't carrying your pills around all day.

Yeah, I said it, Mee-maw.

Also, I don't think the pills work

when you wash them down with mint juleps,

you old hag.

I gotta go back to what I'm doing now.

I know they stopped laughing at the bit.

I'm here, too. I got ears just like you, mama.

Because it's the 1500th show

and I'm allowed to do what I want.

I know we're not making a big deal out of it.

Nobody knows but me."

[ Laughter ]

Hold on, no, no, no.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Trump's begging for money

because no one else will help him,

not even his rich buddies on Wall Street.

And that's not me saying that, that's coming from Fox News.

-As of yet, none of his billionaire friends

are ponying up money, from what I understand.

I've been asking them.

-What is behind their reluctance?

-Well, it's as of now, so let's see, it could change.

-Are they afraid that they might not see it anytime soon?

The money, if he even succeeds on appeal?

What's -- -Yeah.

I mean, that's one thing.

Just generally, Donald doesn't have a great record

of paying back banks over the years.

-What's the reason? They're afraid they're never going to see the money again?

-I have no idea what their exact reason.

-You want me to postulate here? -Sure.

-I just think that they don't think they're gonna get their money back.

-Yeah. No -- No [bleep].

You'd have a better chance getting your money

back from a shredder.

Donald Trump has stiffed contractors, banks,

employees, the government, his own lawyers.

Anyone who expects to get the money Trump owes them

ends up looking like this.

I mean, seriously, listen to this part again.

-Just generally, Donald doesn't have a great record

of paying back banks over the years.

-"Generally." Imagine going in for a loan.

"And just one last question,

are you the kind of person who pays people back?"

"Generally... No."

"Okay. What about sporadically?"

"Also, no. I don't like that part."

Things are so bad for Trump that his buddies are

now openly begging rich guys to give money on TV.

Here's Trump's former economic advisor, Larry Kudlow,

asking Shark Tank billionaire Kevin O'Leary to loan Trump the money.

Watch as O'Leary completely ignores the question.

-Now I was wondering, if he can't get to the Supreme Court,

will you loan him to the $460 million?

-[ Laughs ] You know -- -Just to help,

in order to protect America's name?

Think of it that way.

-To get the bond -- he was able to get

the 90-plus million from Schwab.

-Yeah. -I don't know of a bond

more than 90 million I don't recall one.

And so you need cash to back up the bond insurance.

And so now we're talking about the terminology

of "seizing assets" that actually --

that's foreign language to an American investor.

-Loaning Donald Trump half a billion dollars

wouldn't even be a good business plan on a show

called "[Bleep] Tank,"

although shame on Kudlow for not knowing

that when you have a shark in front of you,

you can't just ask for money.

You have to pitch them the product.

Maybe that's Trump's next move.

He could bring Lindsey Graham as his sidekick.

"And now allow me to introduce my business partner, Lindsey.

Lindsey, would you like to say a few words to the sharks?"

-If you got any money to give, give it.

-"The callback worked, Meemaw!

Yeah, who's laughing now, Meemaw?"

"Oh, oh, who got quiet?"

Trump's been reduced to begging donors and friends

for money because no financial institution will give him the amount he owes.

Over the weekend, his son, Eric Trump,

explained the reaction he's been getting when he tries

to borrow the money.

-Every single person, when I came to them saying,

"Hey, can I get a half billion dollar bond?"

Maria, they were laughing. They were laughing.

-Were they laughing at the amount

or were they laughing at you?

Like, did they laugh after you asked them,

or did it start when you walked in?

Like when you, Eric Trump,

asked them for half a billion dollars for your dad,

who generally doesn't pay people back?

Did they get up, walk to the door,

open it, and shout out to the rest of the office,

"Hey, everyone, get in! You got to see this!"

And then did they take out their phone, press record, and say,

"All right, now say it again. I want to send this

to 'America's Funniest Home Videos.'"

Trump is so desperate for the money,

he's even gutting the Republican National Committee

so he can install loyalists and drain the cash for himself.

-Donald Trump's allies have now ordered mass layoffs

at the Republican National Committee.

It comes just days after Trump's allies,

including his daughter-in-law, took command of the RNC.

Headlines calling it a, quote, bloodbath

and a, quote, mob-like takeover.

-Trump's own daughter-in-law is now the co-chair of the RNC,

and she's acting on a mandate to divert RNC committee spending

away from down ballot races, for instance,

and toward stuff important to her and her father-in-law --

Trump's various legal fees.

-Every single penny will go to the number one

and the only job of the RNC -- that is electing Donald J. Trump

as President of the United States.

-And when she says every penny, she means every penny.

Trump's going to go office to office,

shaking the change out of everyone's pockets.

He'll have his heavy Lindsey Graham with him

to intimidate people.

"I'm going to break your knuckles if you don't pony up.

So if you got any money to give..."

-Give it.

-This has been A Closer Look.

Or don't.