DONALD JR. IN SPIEL ESTATE BIZ ON STAND
Donald Trump Jr. showcased his salesmanship skills on the stand Monday — painting his dad as an “artist of real estate” while detailing his family’s “very sexy” property portfolio at his New York civil fraud trial.
Don Jr., 45, returned to Manhattan Supreme Court to testify in the $250 million case — this time to face friendly questioning by Trump defense lawyers seeking to rebut New York Attorney General Letitia James’ claims.
“He’s an artist with real estate. He sees things that other people don’t,” Don Jr. said as he launched into four hours of testimony about dad Donald’s business prowess and the Trump real estate empire.
Family business
James — who observed from the front row of the gallery again — alleges that Trump, 77, his sons Don Jr. and Eric, his company the Trump Organization and executives lied for a decade on annual financial statements, exaggerating his net worth by billions a year to dupe banks and get better loan and insurance terms.
After James’ office put on its case for the last six weeks — including calling Trump, his eldest sons and his daughter Ivanka to testify — the ex-president’s legal team began presenting its defense with Don Jr. as the first witness.
The attorneys displayed a slideshow titled “The Trump Story,” which laid out the history of the real estate empire going back to Don Jr.’s great-grandfather, who built hotels in the Yukon territory of Canada.
Trump “learned a lot of business” from his grandfather, Don Jr. testified, noting that his dad “saw New York City and Manhattan as the ultimate frontier.”
The Queens-born mogul was “very good” at finding “the sexiness in a real estate project, seeing things that others couldn’t see or envision” — and changed the development industry by adding luxury amenities “that are now commonplace,” his firstborn testified.
Don Jr. was asked by his attorney, Robert Clifford, about various Trump Org properties, including Trump World Tower in Manhattan and the Trump National Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Fla.
“It became a very popular building,” he said of Trump World Tower near the United Nations headquarters. “Derek Jeter lived there, a very sexy place.”
The former New York Yankees shortstop bought the 88th-floor, 5,425-square-foot penthouse in 2001 directly from Donald Trump for nearly $13 million. He sold it in 2012.
Don Jr., a Trump Org executive vice president, also said his father turned a Sunshine State swap that no one else saw as valuable into the Trump National Golf Course in 1999.
“It was literally a flat swamp in West Palm Beach, Florida,” he testified. “Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, but I think it’s one of the finest golf courses in the world.”
Don Jr. also likened Mar-a-Lago to one of the only “American castles” and called The Plaza Hotel the “crown jewel of New York.”
AG lawyers objected to the slideshow more than once, but Justice Arthur Engoron allowed it to be shown, noting, “I think it’s relevant to get the historical perspective. Let him go ahead and say how great the Trump Organization is.”
‘Hole’ in testimony
Don Jr. — whose testimony two weeks ago was marked by jokes — started Monday with a quip, telling the judge: “I’d say it’s good to be here, your honor, but I have a feeling that the attorney general would sue me for perjury if I said that.”
Cross-examination by AG lawyer Colleen Faherty lasted just a few minutes — but she didn’t waste any time suggesting that Trump Org wasn’t the thriving company Don Jr. painted it as.
“Didn’t the 18th hole of this golf course literally fall into the ocean?” Faherty asked of the Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles.
“Yes,” Don Jr. answered.