Donald Trump Jr. joked that he trusts accountants because ‘that’s why we pay them’ and distanced himself from financial statements at the center of the $250million fraud case when he took the stand on Wednesday.
The former president’s eldest son was grilled about his education, his work at his father’s company, and the jailed former CFO Allen Weisselberg during a grilling in the State Supreme Court on Wednesday.
When answering multiple questions, the 45-year-old said ‘I don’t recall’ and admitted that he ‘knows nothing’ about general accounting practices.
He also denied any involvement in the 2017 Trump Organization accounts prosecutors say are fraudulent.
Don Jr smiled as he entered the courtroom for his blockbuster testimony and joked ‘I should have worn makeup!’ as photographers took photos.
Prosecutor Colleen Faherty then asked if Don Jr. knew about GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), and about his time at Wharton Business School.
Donald Trump Jr. admitted that he ‘knows nothing’ about general accounting practices, relies on professionals he pays for and distanced himself from payments at the center of the $250million New York fraud trial
Donald Trump Jr.is questioned as defense lawyer Alina Habba looks on during the Trump Organization civil fraud trial before Judge Arthur Engoron in New York State Supreme Court
The 45-year-old flashed a grin as he left the courtroom on Wednesday after testimony where he distanced himself from the payments at the center of the $250million fraud trial
Donald Trump Jr. leaves court after the judge asked him to stop talking so fast
Don Jr. said that ‘I understand what it (GAAP) stands for’ and that he studied it for ‘accounting 101, back in the late 90s’.
Asked if he knew anything else about GAAP, Don Jr. said: ‘That’s what I have CPAs (Certified Public Accountants) for.
‘I know nothing about GAAP and I’ll leave it to my accountants. That’s why I leave it to my accountants.
‘I relied on professionals and CPAs we pay millions of dollars (to). I rely on their opinions to make that assessment’.
Don Jr. talked the court through how he joined his father’s company shortly after the 9/11 attacks.
Donald Trump did not show up in court on Wednesday, but took aim at Judge Arthur Engoron in a post online which read: ‘Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!’
Don Jr’s first assignments for the family company included working on a development in the West side of Manhattan and he said that his job involved ‘anything and everything’.
He worked on Trump Park Avenue, a residential apartment block, and the Trump International Hotel in Chicago.
‘It was the tallest residential building in Chicago, (I did) design architecture, sales and marketing, finance, construction, you name it’, he said.
Don Jr. became an executive vice president for the Trump Organization, which he said put him on the same level as his brother Eric and sister Ivanka, but below his father.
He had to report to chief financial officer (CFO) Allen Weisselberg on some matters but on others he had ‘total autonomy’, he told the court
Faherty pressed him on why Weisselberg is no longer working for the Trump Organization – he was jailed in January for five months for tax evasion.
Don Jr, said that Weisselberg’s indictment was the reason why he stopped working for his father’s company.
When Faherty pointed out that Weisslberg was not fired, Don Jr, said he ‘didn’t know the exact details’ of his departure.
Faherty asked: ‘Did you ask him to leave?’
Don Jr, said: ‘I did not. I have no knowledge of the specifics of how it happened’.
‘I should have worn makeup!’ the 45-year-old joked as photographers took pictures of him while sitting at the bench with his lawyers
Donald Trump Jr. has arrived in New York to testify in his father’s $250 million fraud trial which could topple the family’s business empire in the city
Don Jr stares at the cameras in the courtroom before his testimony. He is the first of the members of the Trump family, including Ivanka, who are set to testify
Don Jr. waits to testify alongside Alina Habba, a member of Trump’s legal team
After an objection from Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba that the questioning was going down a ‘rabbit hole’, Faherty moved on.
Instead she asked if the elder Trump had any role in decision making at the Trump Organization between 2017 and 2021 when he was President.
Don Jr, said no, adding that since he left office his father has ‘made decisions’
The court was shown a power of attorney form that Trump signed in March 2017 giving Eric and Don Jr, authority to sign for him on certificates and other similar documents.
The document lists Trump’s address as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – the White House.
Don Jr, confirmed he signed it.
The document is key to the prosecution case as it shows that Don Jr, was the person who approved the Trump Organization’s financial statements which a judge has already ruled were fraudulent.
Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization, is due to testify after Don Jr., followed by Trump himself on Monday.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka is due to testify on Wednesday.
Prosecutors claim that Trump and his family falsely inflated and deflated the value of their assets to get lower taxes and better insurance coverage.
The trial is to determine the penalty, and the New York State Attorney General is seeking a $250 million fine and sanctions to effectively put Trump out of business in the state.
Before Don Jr’s arrival, the court heard from David Orowitz, a former Trump Organization Vice President overseeing a deal for the Old Post Office building in Washington.
Prosecutor Colleen Faherty then asked if Don Jr. knew about GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), and about his time at Wharton Business School
The former president’s eldest son waved as he approached the New York State Supreme Court flanked by cops
Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba arrives at the court for testimony on Wednesday. The former president stayed away from proceedings
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who Trump has frequently attacked on Truth Social since the start of the trial, arrives on Wednesday to watch the case unfold
The court heard that Trump saved $168 million in interest on four properties over the past nine years from false financial statements given to lenders.
Michiel McCarty, an investment banker who was the prosecution’s banking expert witness, showed the court his analysis of four Trump properties: Doral, the Old Post Office, 40 Wall St in New York and a Trump hotel in Chicago.
They showed that Trump made millions of dollars each year from significantly lower interest rates which were awarded based on the bank relying on false financial information for the Trump Organization, the court heard.
Between 2014 and this year, Trump saved $72m in interest on the $125 million loan for Doral and $53 million on the $170 million loan for the Old Post Office.
He also allegedly saved $17 million on the $45 million loan for his Chicago hotel and $24 million on the $160 million loan for 40 Wall St in New York.
The analysis showed that the interest rates Trump paid were far lower than he should have done.
In 2015 Trump paid a 1.9 percent rate on the Doral loan but should have paid 10 percent, a graph of the loans showed.
That amounted to a $10 million saving that year on that property alone, the graph stated.
Donald Trump was at Mar-a-Lago for a party with wife Melania (left) and a list of friends and supporters on Tuesday night
Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiance of Donald Trump Jr, beamed as she dressed up as Snow White at the event, seemingly relaxed as her partner is set to testify in New York on Wednesday
McCarty called Doral a ‘turnaround project’ that it would have required significant investment to turn it into the golf resort Trump had planned.
He is a former senior vice president of acquisitions and development at the Trump Organization who oversaw the development of Trump hotel the Old Post Office hotel in Washington then quit a day after it opened in 2016.
Orowitz had worked for Trump for eight years but the acrimony of the opening – which resulted in two restaurant deals falling apart and protests at the site – appeared too much for him.
After Don Jr, Eric Trump is expected to testify about allegations he provided false valuations for the Trump Organization’s estate in Westchester.
Ivanka was once a party to the lawsuit, but an appeal court dismissed her from the case as the state’s statute of limitations barred the claims against her.
Judge Engoron has ruled that Trump must sell some of his most famous buildings including 40 Wall St, but an appeal court has put it on hold until after the trial is complete.