Former President Donald Trump compared his golf and real estate empire to the Mona Lisa and other priceless art works, as he fights charges he inflated property values and defrauded banks to secure lending.
Trump made the extraordinary claim while describing his decision to hand off control of his business to his adult sons Don Jr. and Eric during his term as president – with New York AG Letitia James sitting across from him in a Manhattan courthouse for a deposition.
‘We have the Mona Lisas of properties,’ Trump told the prosecuting attorney in the April deposition unsealed Wednesday.
Then he bragged about his golf course in Turnberry Scotland. ‘I could sell that. That’s like selling a painting. A painting on a wall that sells for $250 million,’ he continued.
‘I have great assets,’ Trump gushed – raving about Mar-a-Lago as well as his property at 40 Wall Street, which he said is ‘the best location,’ he told prosecutor Kevin Wallace in James’ office.
Former President Donald Trump compared his property empire to the Mona Lisa and great works by Renoir in a 479 page deposition for a New York lawsuit
His claims were included in a 479-page deposition for a suit where James is seeking $250 million in damages. Prosecutors claim he has jacked up his net worth by between $812 million and $2.2 billion every year over a decade. James argues Trump inflated his valuations when seeking lending. Trump’s lawyers are asking a judge to toss the suit, calling it a ‘crusade’ over long-ago loans that have been repaid.
‘You don’t have a case and you should drop this case,’ Trump told James. She has asked Judge Arthur Engoron for summary judgement in her case, where she claims Trump defrauded insurers and lenders.
Trump made the valuations after recounting how his own role changed after he was elected president.
Trump invoked the Mona Lisa and said selling one golf course was like ‘selling a painting’
Trump gushed about the history at his Turnberry course in Scotland, claiming it was worth $250 million
He talked up the location of 40 Wall St. and said it could be condo-ized
Trump said his Doral course was zoned for gambling
Trump’s real estate empire includes golf properties, branding deals, and other assets
Trump also said he avoided a nuclear holocaust by dealing with North Korea
‘I wasn’t really interested, believe it or not,’ he said.
I was very busy. I was — I considered this the most important job in the world, saving millions of lives.’
‘I think you would have nuclear holocaust if I didn’t deal with North Korea. I think you would have a nuclear war, if I weren’t elected,’ he said.
The lawyer, who otherwise let Trump go on at length when talking about property values, said he wasn’t going to ‘use my seven hours on nuclear war,’ in reference to a time rule AG James spelled out at the top of the deposition.
Then Trump switched to talking up Mar-a-Lago and Turberry, digressing about the ‘Duel in the Sun’ between golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson.
‘You know these are things that have tremendous value to rich people,’ he continued. He said he thinks you could sell it for ‘4 or 5 or $600 million’ because ‘it’s a painting.’
‘The Mona Lisa is there, the Renoirs of property, many of my properties,’ he said.
That was short of the valuation he put for his Doral course, where he once tried to hold an international summit, and where he has hosted Saudi-backed LIV golf.
He said Mar-a-Lago, which he paid $8 million for, could today be worth ‘a billion 250, billion and a half maybe more than that.’
The lawyer asked him about his Mona Lisa and Renoir comparison, prompting Trump to say ‘if you give me a list of my properties, I’ll go down. I mean, many.’
He said Doral was close to 700 acres and ‘in the middle of Miami, right near the airport. He said it was ‘zoned for gambling’ and ‘you could build on it.’
‘I think Doral could be worth 2 and a half billion by itself,’ Trump said.
Forbes, a magazine Trump attacked in the deposition, put the value at $153 million last year.
He said 40 Wall Street was ‘pretty well full, even in this market,’ and that if the city ‘ever comes back, you can convert the entire tower of 40 Wall Street into condos and make an absolute fortune’ – far greater than a worth of $600 million.
He said his company has in excess of $400 million in cash and that ‘my biggest expense is probably legal fees, unfortunately.’
The lawyer grew impatient, saying ‘we’re not going to need to ask the Judge for more time’ if the process could be completed, and that ‘we have people who will testify at trial about the values of these properties.’
That prompted Trump to say he ‘could have added another 2.9 or $3 billion’ to the brand value of his company but ‘I didn’t need to do it.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk