Trump Org weighed boosting Donald Trump’s net worth with ‘presidential premium’: testimonyBy Priscilla DeGregory
Published Oct. 13, 2023
The Trump Organization’s top brass weighed padding Donald Trump’s net worth with a “presidential premium” while he was in office, according to testimony that closed out the second week of a fraud trial.
Trump Org assistant vice president Patrick Birney took the witness stand in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday morning in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil fraud case against Trump, 77.
Birney — who began his testimony Thursday afternoon — said company executives contemplated adding between 15% and 35% to the worth of Trump properties on the premise that people would value them more highly when Trump was the sitting president, ABC News reported.
This was reflected on draft versions of a 2017 annual Statement of Financial Condition in which leadership wanted to add as much as $144 million to Trump’s assets for a “premium for presidential property,” Birney said.
This included boosting the valuation of Mar-a-Lago, which was described on the form as the “presidential winter residence,” according to records shown in court.
* * *
Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/10/13/execs-weighed-presidential-premium-to-boost-donald-trumps-net-worth/
