Apparently Trump has enlisted a bail company to pay his bail bond in Atlanta, of $200,000. As I understand how it works (alien to us in the UK), using a bail bond company means you pay them a 10% fee is $20000, they take the risk and post the $200k using collateral such as property, a car, stocks etc to cover the risk on the other $180000 you havent paid directly. Of course, you get the $200k back if you win the case, less the bail fee of 10%. If you dont use a bail bond company you get the $200k back in full

Which raises the question - if you can afford the fee ie $200k, wouldnt you pay the amount yourself? Why use a bond company and lose that $20k fee if you can afford it? Or if you are confident of winning, why not pay it yourself and get it back, again if you can afford it? If you arent confident of winning, but have turned up for court on time etc, you get the money back as well - it is surety against being a flight risk...

So why would Trump use a bail bond company? Surely he is a rich man and has $200k he can pay? People of his reputed worth would have $200k in liquid assets, surely?

Or is he a not a rich man, and that is a stretch, then is that something we are finding out from this?

Or am i missing something here - why would he use a bail bonder if he can afford to cover the amount himself??

From the Guardian

Donald Trump has enlisted a local bonding company to secure his release from the Fulton county jail, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

We will be posting his bond when he arrives, Charles Shaw, the CEO of Foster Bail Bonds LLC in Lawrenceville, an Atlanta suburb, told the paper.

According to CNN, Trump paid 10% of the $200,000 bond, which was one of the conditions for his release agreed to with the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis.