Donald Trump clashes repeatedly with judge in heated New York testimony
Check out how Trump testified in his fraud trial, condensed into a mere 85-second clip.
In court, Madeline Halpert and Chloe Kim reported while Bernd Debusmann reported from Washington.
During a civil fraud trial in New York, Donald Trump had many disagreements with the judge and also spoke in defense of his family's business.
For nearly four hours, the ex-president challenged accusations of his wrongdoing towards the banks and voiced his complaints about the ongoing case while testifying in court.
The judge has previously concluded that fraud was committed by the Trump Organization and the consequences will be decided in this trial.
The people responsible for prosecuting a case are looking to impose a fine of $250 million, which is equivalent to £202 million, and impose strict limitations on the business involved.
On Monday, Mr. Trump, who everyone was eagerly waiting for, made an appearance at a federal courthouse in Manhattan. He was questioned about the worth of some of his properties such as his Mar-a-Lago estate located in Florida, Trump Tower situated in New York, and his golf course located in Scotland.
These real estate assets are a few of the many that the prosecution alleges were deliberately inflated in official business records for the purpose of obtaining more favorable loans and insurance coverage.
During his statement, Mr. Trump, who is the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential election, supported the assessments as prosecutors questioned him regarding their method and the financial documents essential to the trial.
According to Mr. Trump, his worth is much higher than what the financial records indicate. He also referred to the assessments of his properties as being too cautious.
He stated that his personal image contributed to the increased value, which assisted him in becoming the President of the United States. This factor was not taken into account in the financial reports.
In another contentious conversation, he proclaimed that he could evaluate the value of buildings just by looking at them.
The legal action was initiated by Letitia James, the Attorney General of New York. She alleges that Mr. Trump, as well as his offspring Eric and Donald Jr, along with other high-ranking Trump Organization officials, purposefully boosted the worth of the firm's assets for an extended period. All of them claim they did not engage in any unlawful activity.
During Mr. Trump's testimony, Ms. James was present in the courtroom and stared at him directly. After his testimony, she spoke to reporters and said, "He spoke incoherently. He also insulted us with his words. However, it was not unexpected."
"The statistics cannot be doubted," she expressed. "Fairness will ultimately win."
Letitia James stated that "he will label this as a witch hunt" without any evidence to support his claim.
During the ex-president's appearance in court, there were several instances of intense arguments and long, rambling replies. These resulted in multiple reprimands from Judge Arthur Engoron, who seemed frustrated at certain points.
The judge requested a direct response to the questions without any unnecessary explanations or lengthy statements.
Following a long response, Judge Engoron directed a message to a lawyer representing Mr. Trump. The judge inquired whether the lawyer could regulate the behavior of their client, emphasizing that the setting was a legal courtroom, rather than a political rally.
"I urge you to manage him," he continued. "If you are unable to, I will take charge."
The final verdict of the trial is in the hands of Judge Engoron. Besides imposing a fine in millions of dollars, the defendants could face the possibility of being banned from conducting any business activities in New York.
Mr. Trump expressed his belief that the judge will not rule in his favor during the court proceedings, as he has had experiences in the past where this particular judge has always ruled against him.
Judge Engoron responded by saying, "Feel free to criticize me however you wish, but kindly provide answers to the queries." He then proceeded to describe Mr. Trump as an individual who keeps repeating the same thing over and over again.
View: Trump criticizes prosecutors prior to giving evidence and labels the trial as a political maneuver known as 'lawfare'.
Just like his two sons testified last week, the ex-president claimed that the financial reports were the responsibility of the Trump Organization accountants.
Mr Trump stated that he simply allowed and granted individuals whatever was required for the accountants to produce the statement.
When he exited the courthouse, he once more described the lawsuit as a "deception" and expressed his confidence that his testimony went smoothly.
A few experts who specialize in law and politics have proposed that Mr. Trump intentionally adopted an aggressive tactic while on the witness stand, whereas others have argued that he simply used the widely anticipated event as a platform to garner support.
According to Renato Mariotti, a previous prosecutor for the government, during an interview with the BBC, it seems that Mr. Trump's answers suggest that his legal squad assumes "they have already failed".
According to Mr. Mariotti, they are attempting to manipulate or embellish a highly unfavorable outcome.
According to Kevin McMunigal, a previous federal prosecutor, he believes that Trump might be attempting to provoke the judge into taking a certain action that he can later use as evidence on appeal to prove that the judge is biased against him. The purpose may be to find something that will be helpful to support Trump's claim of prejudice in the future.
Last month, Mr. Trump received a fine of $15,000 from the judge for making remarks outside of the courtroom.
On Wednesday, it is anticipated that Ivanka, the daughter of Mr. Trump, will provide testimony.
Mr Trump is facing many legal disputes, and the civil case in New York is just one of them.
Furthermore, he is confronting four criminal indictments which consist of two accusations concerning his purported attempts to overthrow the outcome of the 2020 election, one connected to his execution of classified documents, and another prosecution asserting that he committed deceitful bookkeeping to cover up hush money.
