Ivanka Trump took the stand on Wednesday morning in the New York civil fraud lawsuit against her father Donald Trump and brothers Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump. Louis Solomon, who questioned her for the attorney general’s office, repeatedly asked about acquiring loans for her father. Much of the questioning was granular, involving discussions of interest rates, for example, but some moments revealed bankers’ concern about giving Trump loans.
Ivanka Trump repeatedly said she didn’t recall when asked about details involving correspondences about loans.
Deutsche Bank was wary of loaning Trump money due to the 2016 campaign. The court heard how one Deutsche banker, responding to a request for an unsecured loan, told Ivanka Trump in an email: “As for doing any large unsecured amounts, I think that would raise too [many] eyebrows given the political environment.” The banker also said: “At the end, it came down to a global corporate decision to maintain neutrality to any political situation and not lend money to a highly politically exposed person.”
Also in the context of a request for an unsecured loan, Deutsche Bank was concerned about whether Trump had free cash. “I think it would be difficult since we do not have any large unsecured amounts such as this request in the entire [private banking] portfolio and this would certainly be an outlier,” the banker said in an email to Ivanka. Among Deutsche’s concerns, “for that amount, it would look as if liquidity is an issue” for Trump.
Ivanka Trump insisted that the Trump Organization intended to revamp his golf resort in Doral, south Florida. This is important in discussion of valuations. If Trump wanted to claim that assets weren’t overblown – because of the potential value due to improvements – he’d have to show intention to do that. So, if the attorney general shows that there wasn’t really an intention, it suggests that the assets were knowingly overvalued. “I think it was our intention, regardless, to renovate throughout … the reason we bought the property was because we believed in its potential, to be something better than it was,” she claimed.
Ivanka said at various points that she didn’t know much about accounting. She said she’d learned about GAAP, “generally accepted accounting principals,” in school, but didn’t do much with it in her working life.
On cross-examination, Trump lawyer Jesus Suarez tried vehemently to convey that Deutsche Bank was chasing after the family’s business--to suggest that the ex-president wasn’t securing loans through spurious financials. Deutsche Bank wanted the Trumps, so they didn’t need to woo the lender fraudulently. Ivanka Trump said that Deutsche approached Trump with investment opportunities from time to time, and described a “level of excitement for the relationship and positive feelings.”
And, as per usual with this case, Trump’s lawyers complained about alleged unfairness and accused the government laughing at them. “I have to sit here and ask questions and listen to them laugh-- that’s insulting, your honor,” Suarez boomed, pointing at the government table. “They’re laughing! They’re sitting back here laughing. They think this is funny.”
James’ office said that they were not calling any more witnesses, but reserved the right to bring Allen Weisselberg back on the stand. The defense is expected to start presenting its case on Monday.
