What are the top 10 unpaid-contract judgments or liens against donald trump or his businesses by dollar amount?
Executive summary
Available reporting and trackers list multiple large civil judgments, liens and penalties involving Donald Trump and his businesses, but no single, comprehensive public list of the “top 10 unpaid-contract judgments or liens by dollar amount” appears in the provided sources. Major, widely reported monetary obligations include an $83.3 million judgment tied to E. Jean Carroll’s second verdict (reported as a major potential liability) and a $364 million disgorgement order in the New York business‑fraud case that was later voided on appeal; reporting notes total legal liabilities in excess of $500 million when interest and multiple judgments are combined [1] [2] [3].
1. Why a clean “top 10” list isn’t in the available reporting
News outlets and legal trackers report many judgments, settlements and liens across decades, but the supplied sources do not present a ranked top‑10 list for unpaid contracts specifically. The articles and trackers summarize large judgments (fraud disgorgement, defamation and personal injury awards) and often aggregate totals, yet none of the excerpts in the provided results compiles or sorts unpaid contract liens by dollar amount into a definitive top ten (available sources do not mention a ranked top‑10 list of unpaid‑contract judgments/liens) [3] [1] [2].
2. Largest individual judgments cited in the sample reporting
Among the largest amounts repeatedly cited are: the $83.3 million judgment from the second E. Jean Carroll trial reported as a significant liability; and the $364 million disgorgement and penalties ordered by Judge Engoron in New York’s business‑fraud case (the latter was described as voided on appeal in August 2025) [1] [2]. Fortune and AP reporting aggregate his legal debts “more than $500 million” when interest and multiple judgments are included [3] [1].
3. Distinction between unpaid‑contract liens and other judgments
The available sources emphasize a mix of civil judgments (defamation, fraud disgorgement, jury awards), court‑ordered penalties and potential interest accruals; they also reference liens and unpaid bills to contractors historically. But the excerpts do not separate which large dollar amounts are specifically unpaid “contract” judgments or recorded liens as opposed to court judgments in tort, fraud or defamation suits (available sources do not specify which of the cited large judgments are unpaid contract judgments or recorded liens) [4] [2].
4. Historical pattern: numerous contractor liens and nonpayment claims
Longstanding reporting documents “hundreds of liens, judgments and at least 60 lawsuits” alleging non‑payment to workers and contractors across Trump properties—showing a pattern of disputed contractor payments—but the provided Hill/USA Today excerpt is from 2016 and does not quantify a ranked top‑10 list by dollar value [4]. That historical pattern explains why many unpaid liabilities exist, but the sources here don’t convert that record into a top‑10 dollar ranking.
5. Aggregated totals and interest inflate liabilities
Analysis pieces note that when interest and overlapping judgments are counted, Trump’s total legal liabilities exceed a half‑billion dollars; Fortune and AP cite figures above $500 million overall, but those totals aggregate different types of judgments and estimated interest rather than listing unpaid contract liens by amount [3] [1].
6. Recent appellate developments change the picture
The New York Attorney General’s $364 million disgorgement order was later voided as excessive by an appeals court in August 2025, illustrating that large headline figures can be reversed or reduced on appeal—so any top‑10 ranking based on headline amounts can shift materially with appellate decisions [2].
7. How to get the exact top‑10 by dollar amount
To compile a verifiable top‑10 list you would need: (a) access to current docket records and county lien registries for Trump entities, (b) up‑to‑date enforcement filings indicating whether judgments are recorded as liens or remain unpaid, and (c) a methodology to decide whether to include only contract claims vs. all civil judgments. The supplied sources do not provide that granular, rankable dataset (available sources do not provide such a dataset) [3] [1] [2].
8. Competing perspectives and hidden agendas in coverage
Mainstream outlets differ in emphasis: court‑reporting focuses on legally ordered amounts and appellate reversals [2], investigative pieces highlight a pattern of contractor nonpayment and liens [4], and business magazines aggregate totals including interest to illustrate scale [3]. Each framing can serve different narratives—legal accountability, patterns of business practice, or political argument—so readers should note that headline dollar figures are often chosen to emphasize those angles [3] [4] [2].
Limitations: this analysis relies only on the supplied excerpts and cannot assert the existence or ranking of unpaid contract judgments beyond what those sources explicitly state; to produce an authoritative top‑10 list would require supplementary primary docket and lien‑registry searches not present in the provided reporting (available sources do not include that primary registry data) [3] [1] [2].