Whakaari Management Ltd found guilty on health and safety charge, window of opportunity for first-home buyers starting to close and Deep Creek in liquidation as industry hit by excise increases. Video / NZ Herald
When Donald Trump became president in 2017, he handed day-to-day management of his real estate empire to his eldest sons, Donald jnr and Eric.
Trump jnr is expected to testify on November 1 and Eric the day after, kicking off a blockbuster stretch as the trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit enters its second month.
Former US President Donald Trump, centre, seen arriving for his civil business fraud trial at New York Supreme Court last month. Trump's son, Eric Trump, is seen at left. Photo / AP
Donald Trump - the former president, family patriarch and 2024 Republican front-runner - is slated to testify on November 6, followed by his eldest daughter, ex-Trump Organization executive and White House adviser Ivanka Trump, two days later. State lawyers are expected to rest their case after that, giving Trump’s lawyers a chance to call their own witnesses.
Donald jnr and Eric are both executive vice presidents at the Trump Organization and defendants in James’ lawsuit. Eric has oversight over the company’s operations while Donald jnr has been involved in running the company’s property development. He and longtime company finance chief Allen Weisselberg were also trustees of the revocable trust Trump set up to hold the company’s assets when he became president.
Before the trial, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump’s financial statements were fraudulent. He ordered that a court-appointed receiver seize control of some of his companies - potentially stripping him and his family of such marquee properties as Trump Tower - though an appeals court has halted enforcement for now.
Like their father, both brothers have denied wrongdoing.
Eric Trump has spent several days at the trial, here seen in early October. Photo / AP
Eric has spent several days at the trial, often on the days his dad has been there. He’s commented sporadically, mostly on social media. Last month, he posted a video montage to Truth Social of James criticizing his father. With it, he wrote: “this is the corruption my father and our family is fighting! The system is weaponized, broken and disgusting!”
Donald jnr hasn’t been to court, but since testimony began last month, he’s repeatedly denounced the case and Engoron as a “kangaroo court.” State law doesn’t allow for juries in this type of lawsuit, so Engoron will decide the case.
“It doesn’t matter what the rules are, it doesn’t matter what the Constitution says, it doesn’t matter what general practices and business would be,” Donald jnr said earlier this week on Newsmax. “It doesn’t matter. They have a narrative, they have an end goal, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get there.”
“It doesn’t matter what the rules are", Donald Trump jnr said in an interview earlier this week. Photo / Getty Images
Building to Donald jnr and Eric’s testimony, state lawyers have asked other witnesses about their role leading the Trump Organization and their involvement, over the years, in valuing their father’s properties and preparing his financial statements. Their names have also appeared on various emails and documents entered into evidence.
David McArdle, an appraiser at commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, testified that Eric had substantial input on valuing planned-but-never-built townhomes at a Trump-owned golf course in the New York City suburbs. McArdle said Eric arrived at a “more lofty value” than him for the project but that going with the scion’s higher number wouldn’t have been credible.
Donald jnr and Eric have already been heard from at the trial, albeit in snippets of prior testimony. During opening statements last month, state lawyers showed about a minute each from sworn depositions the brothers gave in the case.
In his July 2022 clip, Donald jnr testified about his scant knowledge of the accounting standards known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles — which state lawyers say were used at times and disregarded at others in preparing Donald Trump’s financial statements.
Trump jnr who’s never been an accountant, said he couldn’t recall having to use the GAAP standards in his work. He got a laugh out of a state lawyer when he said he’d learned about them “probably in Accounting 101 at Wharton” but didn’t remember much other than that they were “generally accepted.”
In his March 2023 deposition, Eric testified, “I don’t think I’ve had any involvement in the Statement of Financial Condition, to the best of my knowledge.” He appeared to minimize his role as a top company executive, testifying that he tried to remain “siloed into the things I care and are passionate about” while sharing management responsibilities with his brother.
“I’m a construction, concrete and on-the-ground operations guy,” Eric said, according to a deposition transcript posted on the case docket.
Questioned at another point about decision-making earlier in his career, Eric said: “I pour concrete. I operate properties. I don’t focus on appraisals between a law firm and Cushman. This is just not what I do in my day-to-day responsibilities.”
Donald Trump attended the trial’s first three days in early October and showed up again for four days in the past two weeks, but his campaign schedule suggests it’s unlikely he’ll return to see his sons testify.
In his past appearances, Trump groused to TV cameras outside court, calling the case a “sham,” a “scam,” and “a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time.” He also angered the judge twice, incurring $15,000 in fines for violating a limited gag order with comments about a member of the court staff.
