Court Battles

Trump weighs in as daughter prepares to take stand: ‘Sad!’

Former President Trump expressed his displeasure with his daughter, Ivanka, taking the stand Wednesday in the New York civil fraud trial.

“Tomorrow my wonderful and beautiful daughter, Ivanka, is going to the Lower Manhattan Courthouse, at the direction of Letitia Peekaboo James, the Corrupt and Racist New York State Attorney General, who has allowed Murder and Violent Crime in New York to flourish, and a Trump Hating, out of control Clubhouse appointed Judge, Arthur Engoron, who viciously ruled against me before the trial even started, wouldn’t even consider a Jury, and said that Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, is worth $18,000,000 when, in fact, it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount,” the former president wrote on Truth Social.

“Now they are trying to bring Ivanka into the case, despite the Court of Appeals ruling that she cannot be charged. Sad!” he added.

Ivanka Trump, who is a former Trump Organization executive, is set to testify in the trial Wednesday, stepping back into public view after taking some time away from it.

In emails to her counsel, the attorney general’s office said Ivanka’s household staffing, credit cards, taxes and New York housing were still being paid for or managed by the Trump Organization.


“Ms. Trump, even after her formal resignation, has remained intertwined with the Trump Organization and we believe that she is still amenable to service through that enterprise,” Assistant Attorney General Sherief Gaber wrote in a Sept. 26 email.

Engoron ruled in September that the former president was liable for fraud after James had proven the core elements of her civil case against Trump, his adult sons and his businesses. The lawsuit alleged the Trump Organization sought lower taxes and better insurance coverage by falsely inflating and deflating the value of its assets.

While Ivanka was dismissed from the case in June, the judge ruled that the dismissal did not prevent her from testifying. 

“Ms. Trump has clearly availed herself of the privilege of doing business in New York,” Engoron said while handing down his decision.

Following that decision, Trump lashed out at Engoron, calling him a “nut job” for requiring Ivanka to take the stand.

“I truly believe he is CRAZY, but certainly, at a minimum, CRAZED in his hatred of me,” the former president wrote. “This case should have never started, but now must be dismissed.”

Ivanka appealed the decision, but an appeals court denied her request.