Former President Trump said he averted a “nuclear holocaust” with North Korea and “saved millions of lives” during his time as president, according to his newly released April deposition in his New York civil fraud case.
For nearly seven hours, lawyers with the New York attorney general’s office grilled Trump over his company’s business practices and his children’s roles within the Trump Organization. When asked about how his position changed within the Trump Organization when elected president, Trump said he was “very busy” and considered the presidency “the most important job in the world, saving millions of lives.”
“I think you would have nuclear holocaust, if I didn’t deal with North Korea,” Trump said. “I think you would have a nuclear war, if I weren’t elected. And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if you want to know the truth.”
Trump said his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, both of whom currently serve as executive vice presidents at the Trump organization and are named in the suit, saw their roles change once he came president.
“They became more intensely involved with the company, I was virtually not involved at all,” Trump said. “I rarely — I’d rarely have anything to do with anything having to do with the company.”
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The testimony is part of New York Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) lawsuit against Trump, the Trump Organization and two of the former president’s children over allegations of major fraud. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, was previously included in the lawsuit but later dismissed from it by a state appeals judge.
Trump’s lawyers released Trump’s 479-page deposition transcript Wednesday ahead of a Sept. 22 hearing where a judge could resolve part or all of the lawsuit before it goes to trial in October.
In a separate court document filed Wednesday, James alleges Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2 billion in 2014, and from 2011-21 defrauded lenders, insurers and others.
James asked Judge Arthur Engoron to partially rule against Trump ahead of the scheduled Oct. 2 trial.
During the April deposition, Trump appeared to dismiss the attorney general’s allegations, advising James to “drop the case.”