‘My dad is the artist of real estate’ – Donald Trump Jr testifies about his Dad in New York Fraud trial

Donald Trump Jr. showcased his salesmanship skills on the stand Monday,  November 13, painting his dad, former US president, Donald J. Trump as an “artist of real estate” while detailing his family’s “very sexy” property portfolio at his New York civil fraud trial.

Don Jr., 45, returned to Manhattan Court on Monday, November 13 to testify in the $250 million case this time to face friendly questioning by Trump defence lawyers seeking to rebut New York Attorney General Letitia James’ claims about the family business.

James alleges that Trump, 77, his sons Don Jr. and Eric, his company the Trump Organization and executives lied for a decade on annual financial statements, exaggerating his net worth by billions a year to dupe banks and get better loan and insurance terms.

After James’ office put on its case for the last six weeks — including calling Trump, his eldest sons and his daughter Ivanka to testify, the ex-president’s legal team began presenting its defence with Don Jr. as the first witness.

“He’s an artist with real estate. He sees things that other people don’t,” Don Jr. said about the former president as he testified about dad Donald Trump’s real estate prowess.

Trump’s attorneys displayed a slideshow titled “The Trump Story,” which laid out the history of the family’s real estate empire going back to Don Jr.’s great-grandfather, who built hotels in the Yukon territory of Canada.

Trump “learned a lot of business” from his grandfather, Don Jr. testified, noting that his dad “saw New York City and Manhattan as the ultimate frontier.”

Trump was “very good” at finding “the sexiness in a real estate project, seeing things that others couldn’t see or envision” and changed the development industry by adding luxury amenities “that are now commonplace,” his firstborn testified.

Don Jr. was asked a series of questions about various Trump Organization properties, including Trump World Tower in Manhattan and the Trump National Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, questions to which he gushed.

“It became a very popular building,” he said of Trump World Tower near the United Nations headquarters on the East Side of Manhattan. “Derek Jeter lived there, [it’s] a very sexy place.”

Don Jr. also said his father turned a “flat swamp” in Florida that no one else saw value in into the Trump National Golf Course in 1999.

“It was literally a flat swamp in West Palm Beach, Florida.,” he testified. “Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, but I think it’s one of the finest golf courses in the world.”

His glowing descriptions of Trump properties also included likening Mar-a-Lago to one of the only “American castles” and calling the Plaza Hotel the “crown jewel of New York.”

New York government lawyers had objected to the slideshow more than once, but Justice Arthur Engoron allowed it to continue to be shown during the testimony.

“I think it’s relevant to get the historical perspective,” Engoron said. “Let him go ahead and say how great the Trump Organization is.

I’d say it’s good to be here, your honour, but I have a feeling that the attorney general would sue me for perjury if I said that,” he said before launching into his testimony.