Donald Trump To Be Confronted With 'Inconsistent' Mar-a-Lago Valuation

Donald Trump is expected to be confronted about a previous inconsistent valuation of Mar-a-Lago as he takes the witness stand in New York on Monday, according to former attorney Joyce Vance, who has been following the civil fraud trial case.

New York Attorney General Letitia James brought the $250 million lawsuit against the former president, his two eldest sons, and his organization last year, accusing the defendants of knowingly participating in a scheme to inflate the value of Trump's assets. Prosecutors allege that this was to secure financial benefits such as more-favorable loan and insurance-policy terms, according to the lawsuit.

Trump and his two eldest sons have denied all accusations, with the former president claiming the trial is part of a politically motivated campaign against him.

On September 26, Judge Arthur F. Engoron—who is overseeing the New York trial—ruled in favor of James, saying that there was "conclusive evidence" that Trump, The Trump Organization, and the former president's two adult sons had committed fraud by misrepresenting his wealth and inflating the value of his assets.

On Monday, Trump is likely to be confronted by lawyers from the attorney general's office "with the inconsistent practices The Trump Organization used in reporting valuation on properties for purposes like obtaining loans and insurance," Vance, a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, wrote in her recent newsletter that looks at the week ahead in the New York trial.

"Take Mar-a-Lago: Trump testified at his deposition that it was worth $1.5 billion," she added. "But that was a whimsical value with no real support beyond Trump's 'belief' that was how much his property was worth."

The former president has acknowledged that his estimate was "based on the assumption the property could be converted into a private residence," Vance said.

"Of course, Mar-a-Lago is a club and Trump is bound by [the] deed restriction he entered into with Palm Beach in 1993 that requires that it remains a club. Trump made up a number and based it on circumstances that could never exist," she concluded.

According to the attorney, Engoron will be able to use this evidence to evaluate any damages if the defendants lose the trial.

In his ruling in late September, Engoron cited an evaluation of Mar-a-Lago made by a Palm Beach County property appraiser, Dorothy Jacks, to show that Trump had inflated the value of his Florida residence.

Jacks had estimated the value of Mar-a-Lago in the decade between 2011 and 2021 at between $18 million and $27.6 million—much lower than the hundreds of millions the former president's valuation. According to Trump's claim, Mar-a-Lago is worth far more than the $18 million cited by the judge.

In his ruling, the judge concluded that Trump had put the value of Mar-a-Lago at between $426.5 million to $612.1 million in filings—what the judge called "an overvaluation of at least 2,300 percent."

Both the former president and his son Eric Trump mocked the judge's valuation of the Florida resort, with Trump writing on Truth Social: "This highly partisan Democrat 'Judge' (All the Clubs, etc.) just ruled that Mar-a-Lago was WORTH just 18 Million Dollars when, in fact, it may be worth 100 times that amount."

Eric Trump added on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Mar-a-Lago was worth "well over a billion dollars," adding that it was "arguably the most valuable residential property in the country."
Newsweek contacted the Trump Organization for comment by email on Monday.