Really, one of my favorite moments in his Presidency was when he almost derailed the December 2020 budget deal… his own budget deal… when he impulsively demanded the COVID relief checks be $2,000 instead of the $1,200 agreed upon. The man was willing to destroy his own government just so I could get an additional $800. 
Part of the fun of being a king is indulging your impetuous whims.
This judgement is “joint and severable” between Trump and his lawyer which means that they collectively have to come up with the money, they are both liable for the debt, but its not specified who pays what. I’m pretty sure that despite his deep pockets Trump isn’t going to be willing to part with one red cent, so I will probably need to make sure I have a good supply of popcorn on hand as they figure this out who’s going to pick up the tab.
What does “joint and severable” mean in a legal context? It would seem from a naive reading of the words that something that is “joint” is not severed. But I suppose the phrase has a particular meaning in law?
The term should be “joint and several.” It means that each entity is responsible for the full amount. If one can’t pay their share, the others have to pitch in. They have rights against each other to make up overpayments, etc., but the plaintiff (or whoever has the award) gets full payment.
They are both equally responsible for the full amount; they may arrange to pay it 50-50, or 70-30, or whatever, but it must be paid, and each is on the hook for it.
Thanks, “joint and several.” makes more sense.
Huh, I read the phrase as joint and “severable” half a dozen times when looking it up. My eyes must be going. 
Practically what I think it means is that Clinton et al can go after Trump (or Habba, but probably Trump since he’s probably more likely to have the money) for the full amount and If he feels that Haba should pay for some of the fine then he will have to go after her for her share.
So what happens if/when Trump says he won’t be paying anything? The lawyer has to sue his former client?
Yes. But it’s often worked out quietly in arbitration or even mediation. (Obviously, this is an unusual situation, so who knows)
The only way Habba would be able to pay is if Trump pays her for all the work she’s doing for him. So she’s utterly screwed.
I look forward to the next Trump grift to get his followers to pay the debt.
Trump? Worked out? Quietly? Bwahahaha! You’re too much, Procrustus.
When you have too much Procrustus, you just remove the excess.
I have this terrible, wonderful, no good, highly amusing mental image of an ever-spreading tree diagram of lawyers, which all spring from the diseased filth ridden toxic swamp of Trump. Each la(w)yer being sued by the ones below it to pay for the costs of defending it, and on and on and on, all leading back to the deepest layer (of hell) where they’re waiting for Trump to pay them.
It’s like the old joke about x number of lawyers at the bottom of a lake being a good start. But one day, I hope to see a giant swath of right-leaning attorneys panhandling in the streets with signs “Will support merit-less cases for Food!” once they reach a critical mass after Trump died not paying any of them and the estate lawyers of his spawn fight for the grubby remnants of his ‘legacy’.
Of course, I also look forward to the right-wingers who hate bail-outs trying to bail out these ‘poor defenders of justice’ as they are (in a better world than this one) de-barred, sued into oblivion, and only spoken in the darkest whispers of the Ivy League Legal Schools, where one is warned to never say “Ghouliani” three times fast or a evil spirit leaking dark fluids will chase you through the halls in search of your trust fund!
She’s already a part of the right wing news circuit, so she is very likely getting something from the exposure Trump has given her.
But a $2 lottery ticket probably has a better ROI than any possible nest egg she could conceivably build after not getting paid for her work and having to pay for any more judgments.
I don’t think Faux News is paying her $1 million for her appearances. You know Trump is going to weasel out of his half, leaving her stuck with paying it all.
Proving that the smartest Trump lawyer of all is Chris Kise, who got paid his $3 million up front, and isn’t doing all that much work after he was sidelined for not supporting the “I’m taking crazy pills” suits.
Of course, according to reporting, he was paid out of the Save America PAC, so maybe it didn’t feel to Trump like he was spending his own money… wait, I tried, but couldn’t type that phrase with a straight face. Of course it was ‘his’ money. The old (tired, should be put down) line about What’s Yours is Mine, and What’s Mine is Mine being what passes for ultimate truth to His Orangeness.
Fox wouldn’t have to pay. Do a few news appearances, get on the speaker circuit and get paid $10k here or $20k there to address a crowd, and it eventually adds up.
Or would, a single big judgment still wipes all that out.
Judge Middlebrooks scathing takedown seems to have had an effect beyond the Clinton lawsuit.
On Friday morning, Trump reportedly withdrew his lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James, whom he sued in November last year for allegedly trying to “steal, destroy or control all things Trump” by prosecuting the Trump organization’s shady business dealings.
Guardian reporter Hugo Lowell explained the sudden U-turn in a tweet: “The problem for Trump was that US district court judge Middlebrooks, who last night issued $1m sanction for Trump v. Clinton et al, was also overseeing Trump v. James – and referenced Trump v. James as example of vexatious litigation in the Clinton case.”
The money was put up, but he only gets to claim it if he does actual work. If he’s not doing anything, he’s not touching the money.