Donald Trump Jr. admits he trusts his accountants and ‘knows nothing’ about general practices as prosecutors question him on the stand about ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg and his work in the family business
Donald Trump Jr. admitted he “knows nothing” about general accounting practices as prosecutors tried to portray him as unfit to sign off on the Trump Organization’s financial statements.
The former president’s eldest son was questioned on the witness stand about his education when he started at his father’s company and jailed former CFO Allen Weisselberg when he took the stand during New York’s $250 million fraud trial.
According to the lawsuit, Don Jr. and Eric were involved in preparing fraudulent financial statements, allegations they both deny.
The lawsuit alleges that Don Jr. was the person who certified the financial statements after his father became president in 2017, after which he and Eric took control of the Trump Organization.
“I should have worn makeup!” the 45-year-old joked as photographers snapped pictures of him sitting on the couch with his lawyers.
Prosecutor Colleen Faherty then asked if Don Jr. knew about GAAP, or generally accepted accounting principles, and from his time at Wharton Business School.
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
“I should have worn makeup!” the 45-year-old joked as photographers snapped pictures of him sitting on the couch with his lawyers
He said that “I understand what it stands for” and that he studied it for “accounting 101, late 1990s.”
When asked if he knew anything else about GAPP, Donr Jr. said, “That’s what I have CPAs for.”
‘I don’t know anything about GAAP and I leave that to my accountants. That’s why I leave it to my accountants
“I relied on professionals and accountants to whom we pay millions of dollars. I trust their opinions to make that assessment.”
Don Jr. told the court how he joined his father’s company shortly after the September 11 attacks.
Trump did not appear in court on Wednesday, but targeted Judge Arthur Engoron in an online post that said: “Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!’
Don Jr.’s first assignments included working on the development of Manhattan’s west side, and he said his work involved “anything and everything.”
Don Jr worked on Trump Park Avenue, a residential apartment building, 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,” Don Jr. said.
Don Jr. became executive vice president of the Trump Organization, which he said put him on the same level as his brother Eric and sister Ivanka, but lower than his father.
Don Jr. had to report to chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg on some matters, but had “total autonomy” on others, he told the court.
Faherty urged Don Jr. on why Weisselberg no longer works for the Trump Organization – he was jailed for five months in January for tax evasion.
Don Jr. said Weisselberg’s charges were the reason he stopped working for his father’s company.
When Faherty pointed out that Weisslberg had not been fired, Don Jr. said. that he “did not know the exact details” of his departure.
Faherty asked, “Did you ask him to leave?”
Don Jr said, “I didn’t. I have no knowledge of the details of how it happened’.
Don Jr. stares at the cameras in the courtroom before his testimony. He is the first of the Trump family members, including Ivanka, 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 whether Trump played a role in decision-making at the Trump Organization between 2017 and 2021, when he was president.
Don Jr said no, adding that his father has ‘made decisions’ since then
The court was shown a power of attorney form that Trump signed in March 2017, allowing Eric and Don Jr. were given the authority to sign a certificate and other similar documents on his behalf.
The document lists Trump’s address as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – the White House.
Don Jr confirmed that he signed it.
The document is crucial to the prosecution case because it shows that Don Jr. was the person who approved the Trump Organization’s financial statements, which a judge has already ruled to be fraudulent.
Eric Trump, who heads the Trump Organization, will follow Don Jr. witnesses, followed on Monday by Trump himself.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka will testify on Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege 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 set to determine punishment, and New York State’s attorney general is seeking a $250 million fine and sanctions to effectively bankrupt Trump in the state.
Before Don Jr.’s arrival the court heard from David Orowitz, a former Trump Organization vice president who oversaw the deal for the Old Post Office in Washington.
The former president’s eldest son waved as he approached the New York State Supreme Court, flanked by officers
Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba arrives in court on Wednesday for testimony. The former president stayed away from the proceedings
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has regularly attacked Trump on Truth Social since the trial began, arrives Wednesday to watch the case unfold
The court heard that Trump saved $168 million in interest on four properties over the past nine years by making false financial statements to lenders.
Michiel McCarty, an investment banker who was the plaintiff’s banking expert, 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 awarded on the basis that the bank relied on false financial information for the Trump Organization, the court heard.
Between 2014 and this year, Trump saved $72 million in interest on the $125 million loan for Doral and $53 million on the $170 million loan for the Old Post Office.
He also reportedly 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 found that the interest rates Trump paid were much lower than he should have been.
In 2015, Trump paid 1.9 percent interest on the Doral loan, but he should have paid 10 percent, a graph of the loans showed.
That amounted to a savings of $10 million that year on that property alone, according to the chart.
Donald Trump was at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night for a party with his wife Melania (left) and a list of friends and supporters
Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle beamed as she dressed as Snow White at the event, seemingly relaxing as her partner is set to testify in New York on Wednesday
McCarty called Doral a “turnaround project” that 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 the Trump hotel, the Old Post Office hotel in Washington, and quit a day after its opening in 2016.
Orowitz had worked for Trump for eight years, but the acrimony of the opening — which resulted in the collapse of two restaurant deals and protests on the ground — seemed too much.
After Don Jr, Eric Trump is expected to testify about allegations that he provided false appraisals for the Trump Organization’s Westchester estate.
Ivanka was once a party to the lawsuit, but an appeals court dismissed her from the case because 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 appeals court has put that on hold until after the trial is complete.