Former President Donald Trump has responded to a ruling by a far-left judge in New York who he claims has dramatically undervalued his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled on Tuesday that the former president, via his businesses under the Trump Organization umbrella, practiced deception regarding the valuation of his various businesses, even though two-page disclaimers were routinely filed with financial statements indicating such valuations were internal estimates made in good faith. He claimed in his ruling that Trump’s signature Florida estate was only worth around $18 million.
But in an interview with The Daily Caller aboard Trump Force One, the former president’s private Boeing 757, Trump said that his estate is actually worth around $1.8 billion. He also told the outlet that the disclaimers instruct anyone reviewing his filings to do their own research and analysis, pointing out that it is a non-reliance clause.
He also denied defrauding anyone and added that the bank officials themselves don’t even know why they are involved.
“The banks are happy. The banks got paid fully. They had the best lawyers in the country. They got all their money. They got all their interest. The banks have stated that they are thrilled. They got paid. They don’t even know why they are being involved in this thing,” Trump told the outlet.
“I built a great company, and I have a disclaimer clause in the agreement. He says that Mar-a-Lago is worth 18 million dollars when it is worth probably 100 times that, 1.8 billion dollars, and there are others in there too,” he continued.
“It is a rogue judge. It is a rogue AG. I have a clause that is a phenomenal clause. But this is election interference at the highest level,” he added, referencing New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has filed a $250 million civil lawsuit against the president and his company, The Trump Organization, claiming he defrauded financial institutions and customers.
“There is no bank that was defrauded. There’s nobody that was defrauded. There is very little money relative to my net worth. I’m very liquid, I built a great company,” he added.
Asked how he thought the ruling would affect his business, Trump said he doesn’t believe a judge can allow the ruling to stand.
“It affects New York. I can’t answer that. I can’t imagine that anybody would allow this to stay. The judge was unable to answer questions today. He was unable to, he didn’t know the answers. This is a witch hunt to the likes no one has ever seen. This is all coming out of Washington. This all has to do with this stuff. If I wasn’t running, I wouldn’t have any cases,” Trump told the outlet.
Meanwhile, a trial scheduled in October in James’s case will proceed. Trump and his supporters see it as little more than an attempt to harm his campaign, as well as bar him permanently from doing business in New York state.
“Engoron’s ruling is likely to cause a shockwave across New York in general, with many firms now likely to review how they handle their financial estimates and information if the government, alongside the far left judiciary, is left in charge of interpreting their finances,” the National Pulse reported.
“Trump’s lawyers argue there was no evidence of public harm caused by Trump’s actions, and that some of the allegations were even barred by the statute of limitations. The leftist judge refused to throw out the case” however, the report continued.
“I have been unfairly sued by the Trump Hating Democrat Attorney General of New York State, Letitia James, over the false fact that I inflated my Financial Statements in order to borrow money from Banks, etc.,” Trump raged in response on his Truth Social platform.
“The Judge in the case, Arthur F. Engoron, refused to allow this case to go to the ‘Commercial Division,’ where it belongs, because he is a Trump Hater beyond even A.G. James, who campaigned against me spewing horrible inflammatory statements which are False & Defamatory. I am not even allowed a Jury!” he added.
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