Eric Trump Says New York Judge Undervalued Mar-a-Lago in Fraud Ruling

Donald Trump Jr. (R) and Eric Trump look on as then President Donald Trump prepares to deliver his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, on Aug. 27, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Eric Trump said a New York judge undervalued Mar-a-Lago by about $1 billion in ruling that he and his father were liable for fraud.

On Sept. 26, Judge Arthur Engoron issued a summary judgment that found that former President Donald Trump and his Trump Organization are liable for fraud. The civil suit, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, names the former president as well as his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

Ms. James is asking for penalties of $250 million, as well as removing the three defendants from their posts in the company and barring them from holding executive posts in New York State. Within 10 days, they must recommend three independent reviewers to manage the dissolution of Trump Organization and other related holdings. A non-jury trial begins Oct. 2.

“In an attempt to destroy my father and kick him out of New York, a Judge just ruled that Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach Florida, is only worth approximate[ly] ‘$18 Million dollars,’” wrote Eric Trump, executive vice president of Trump Organization, on X (formerly Twitter). “Mar-a-Lago is speculated to be worth we’ll [sic] over a billion dollars making it arguably the most valuable residential property in the country. It is all so corrupt and coordinated.”

‘Collateral Damage’

Eric Trump wrote in another social media post that he was “collateral damage” in the political attacks against his father, who is campaigning to run for president again in 2024, and leading the Republican candidates by far in polls.

“While everyone can see that this case is egregious, the only thing worse than weaponizing the legal system against a political opponent is unfairly going after their family,” he wrote.

“Both the Attorney General and the Judge know I had absolutely NOTHING to do with this case. Every single person has testified that my job has always been acquiring, developing and managing properties, not back office functions. The only reason I am collateral damage is because my last name is Trump and I am unwavering in the support of my father, his accomplishments and what he has done for our country, a nation which is now rapidly in decline.”

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He added that he was disillusioned by the justice system.

“Today, I lost all faith in the New York legal system,” he said. “Never before have I seen such hatred toward one person by a judge - a coordinated effort with the Attorney General to destroy a man’s life, company and accomplishments.”

“We have run an exceptional company - never missing a loan payment, making banks hundreds of millions of dollars, developing some of the most iconic assets in the world. Yet today, the persecution of our family continues,” he wrote.

Mar-a-Lago

“The real estate circles in Florida are laughing at this foolishness,” Eric Trump wrote, pulling real estate listings from the area.

Homes from around 5,000 to 11,500 square feet and further from the beach than Mar-a-Lago were listed at prices near $40 million. Mar-a-Lago is a waterfront-facing, 62,000-square-foot resort-turned-club that has been outfitted with a spa and other amenities. President Trump purchased it in 1985 during a market slump.

Originally, the 20-acre plot was developed by the heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and architects Marion Sims Wyeth and Joseph Urban. It was completed in 1927, and Ms. Post, at the time America’s richest woman, had willed it to the government to be used as a warm-weather retreat for the President.

However, the cost of maintenance ran up to $1 million annually, and the government returned the building to the Post Foundation in 1981.

President Trump has called the property his “winter White House,” which may have been close to what Ms. Post envisioned.

An aerial view of Mar-a-Lago, the Florida home of former President Donald Trump, on Aug. 15, 2022. (Marco Bello/Reuters)

Fraud Case

Ms. James had filed a motion asking for a pre-trial summary judgment from the court, a ruling that President Trump had overvalued his properties by up to $2.2 billion.

It is just one of the seven claims in Ms. James’s petition, and the judge is set to rule on the other six.

Ms. James claimed that from 2011 to 2021, President Trump, Eric Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. engaged in “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” in their financial documents, leading insurers and lenders to give him lower prices. Ms. James has interviewed 65 witnesses, including President Trump himself.

In April, President Trump was deposed for seven hours, and his attorneys had publicized the 479-page testimony transcript in a motion opposing Ms. James’s request for a ruling without trial.

Judge Engoron ruled on Tuesday that Ms. James had sufficiently established liability for false valuations of several properties including Mar-a-Lago, and that President Trump’s testimony included comments “wholly without basis in law or fact.”

President Trump has denied all wrongdoing, issuing a lengthy statement denouncing the judge’s decision.