Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at the New York judge who ruled he must pay $354.9 million in penalties for fraudulently overstating his net worth to dupe lenders, telling thousands of supporters at a campaign rally the decision was an "election interference ploy."

Addressing supporters for the first time since Justice Arthur Engoron on Friday hit him with massive financial penalties, Trump made the unsubstantiated claim that the judge was part of a "left wing" conspiracy aimed at stopping him from becoming president again.

Donald Trump and his business were found liable Friday of inflating asset values in paperwork to lenders, but given that nobody lost money, this punishment smacks of political overkill. In a 92-page ruling, New York Judge Arthur Engoron ordered him to pay $355 million, while also banning him from being an officer for any New York corporation for three years.

A New York judge on Friday handed Donald J. Trump a crushing defeat in his civil fraud case, finding the former president liable for conspiring to manipulate his net worth and ordering him to pay a penalty of $355 million that could wipe out his entire stockpile of cash.

A New York judge on Friday ordered former President Trump to pay nearly $355 million in penalties in a civil fraud case that has dealt a stark blow to his family’s business empire. 

Judge Arthur Engoron’s 92-page decision came just weeks after closing arguments in the case following a months-long trial last year during which Trump frequently lambasted the judge and the prosecutor who brought the case. 

A New York judge ordered that former President Donald Trump pay $355 million — and temporarily banned him from doing business in the state where he made his name — after finding Friday that he inflated his net worth by billions to dupe banks and insurers over the course of a decade.

Trump, 77, will be barred from serving as an officer or director of any company in New York for three years, under the ruling from Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron.

A verdict in the New York civil business fraud trial of former President Donald Trump — which had been anticipated Wednesday — is now expected to arrive in early to mid-February, a court spokesman said.

That new timeline for the written decision by Judge Arthur Engoron is still a “rough estimate” and “subject to modifications,” said Alfred Baker, spokesman for the New York State Office of Court Administration.

“But that’s the working plan now,” Baker said.

Former President Donald Trump lashed out at prosecutors as his civil case entered closing arguments, calling the case “fraud” against him.

Speaking to media outside the New York City courthouse where prosecutors are seeking $370 million in damages and asking Trump and his sons be barred from doing business in New York, the former president continued to decry the prosecution as political and not based in fact.

The former president railed against the process as unfair, accusing President Joe Biden of being responsible for the multiple court cases against him.

Donald Trump's hotels and other businesses accepted more than $7.8m (£6.1m) from foreign governments during his presidency, according to a new report from Democrats in Congress.

They found that China was responsible for more than $5.5m of those payments, which Mr Trump is accused of accepting in violation of the US constitution.

The report is based on documents released by Mr Trump's former accounting firm after a court battle.

Mr Trump did not immediately comment.

Donald J. Trump’s businesses received at least $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments during his presidency, according to new documents released by House Democrats on Thursday that show how much he received from overseas transactions while he was in the White House, most of it from China.

House Democrats are accusing former President Donald Trump of taking in more than $7.8 million from foreign governments via payments to the Trump Organization while he was in the White House.

A majority of that came from the Chinese government and state-owned entities, Democrats said, while the rest came from 19 other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar.