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, dressed in a dark grey suit, a white dress shirt and a light pink tie, 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 about the family business.
“He’s an artist with real estate. He sees things that other people don’t,” Don Jr. said as he launched into roughly four hours of testimony about dad Donald Trump’s business prowess and the Trump real estate empire.
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 family’s 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.
Over his roughly four hours on the stand, Don Jr. was asked by his and brother Eric’s 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. — both of which he gushed over.
“It became a very popular building,” he said of Trump World Tower near the United Nations headquarters on the East Side of Manhattan. “Derek Jeter lived there, [it’s] 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 swamp 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, Fla.,” he testified. “Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, but I think it’s one of the finest golf courses in the world.”
His glowing descriptions of Trump properties also included likening Mar-a-Lago to one of the only “American castles” and calling the Plaza Hotel the “crown jewel of New York.”
AG lawyers had objected to the slideshow more than once, but Justice Arthur Engoron allowed it to continue to be shown during the testimony.
“I think it’s relevant to get the historical perspective,” Engoron said. “Let him go ahead and say how great the Trump Organization is.”
Don Jr. — whose testimony two weeks ago was marked by jokes throughout — started the day 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 on the Rancho Palos Verdes Peninsula in southern California.
“Yes,” Don Jr. answered.
Faherty also asked whether Trump Org was “ditching” Trump International Hotel Waikiki in Hawaii and selling it to Hilton.
“If they want to buy it out for millions of dollars, I’m OK with that,” Don Jr. responded.
Outside the 60 Centre St. courthouse, he slammed the brief grilling by Faherty as “boring” — and ripped James as an overzealous attorney general who would destroy all of New York business by going after transactions where there are no victims.”
He also told reporters on his way out of the courtroom that it had been a “rough day” for him and his family after the news that his aunt Maryanne Trump Barry, his dad’s older sister, had died.
“Obviously, it’s a little bit of a rough day but I still have got to deal with this stuff,” he said. “It’s been a rough day for myself and my family … and her grandson.”
Sherri Dillon, a tax lawyer at law firm Morgan Lewis and a former outside counsel to the Trump Org, was the second witness called by Trump’s side. She was questioned for about an hour and half about appraisals she worked on for the Trump Seven Springs estate in Westchester County and the Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briarcliff Manor.
The former president’s legal team has said they will wrap up presenting their case on Dec. 15, and it’s possible Trump will be called to the stand again between now and then.
Eric Trump will be among the witnesses, the attorneys confirmed, though it’s unclear exactly when he will be testifying. It’s unlikely that Ivanka Trump will be recalled.
The case threatens the Trump empire, with James seeking more than $300 million in what she alleges were ill-gotten gains and an end to Trump’s ability to do business in New York.
