Donald Trump Jr. Wanted a 'Sexy' Court Sketch. Here's the Final Result

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Donald Trump Jr. wanted his courtroom sketch to look "sexy" as he testified in his family businesses' civil fraud trial.

The former president's eldest son is one of the co-defendants in a trial brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James accusing the Republican and a number of others, including his sons, of fraudulently inflating the value of assets to obtain favorable loans and insurance deals. James is seeking at least $250 million in damages and a permanent ban on Trump and his sons running a business in the state of New York.

In September, the judge in the case Judge Arthur Engoron issued a partial summary stating that the defendants committed fraud. He ruled that Trump grossly inflated the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers.

Trump Jr., alongside his father and brother Eric, run the Trump Organization together as executive vice-presidents. They have all denied falsifying business records and insurance fraud.

During his testimony yesterday, Trump Jr. denied knowledge or involvement in accounting practices at the company.

Donald Trump Jr.
Donald Trump Jr. steps out for a break at former President Donald Trump's civil fraud trial on November 02, 2023 in New York City. He asked the courtroom artist to make him look "sexy", she... Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

He acknowledged he had signed financial documents that the judge ruled were fraudulent in a partial summary, but suggested the blame lay with others who worked on the documents including his accountants.

But when not defending himself to prosecutors, during a morning recess in his testimony he yesterday had a light-hearted interaction with the courtroom artist, Jane Rosenberg.

"Make me look sexy," he demanded, she told reporters.

She added he mentioned the cryptocurrency exchange founder who was jailed for fraud, Sam Bankman-Fried, who she previously drew, and said she made him look like a "superstar."

On the same day, his younger brother Eric Trump also testified and denied wrongdoing in the case.

He said: "We're a major organization, a massive real estate organization—yes, I'm fairly sure I understand that we have financial statements. Absolutely."

He later added: "I had no involvement and never worked on my father's statement of financial condition."

Meanwhile, Rosenberg previously drew their father when he was arraigned in a separate case involving hush money payments to adult actress Stormy Daniels.

Her image was printed on the cover of The New Yorker magazine.

This is the sketch she drew of Trump Jr:

Donald Trump is due to testify in the case on Monday and the trial is expected to continue until December.

Newsweek has contacted Trump Jr. to comment on this story.

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About the writer

Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and she is particularly interested in the impact of social policy decisions on people as well as the finances of political campaigns, corruption, foreign policy, democratic processes and more. Prior to joining Newsweek, she covered U.K. politics extensively. Kate joined Newsweek in 2023 from The Independent and has also been published in multiple publications including The Times and the Daily Mail. She has a B.A. in History from the University of Oxford and an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from City, University of London.

Languages: English.

You can get in touch with Kate by emailing k.plummer@newsweek.com, or by following her on X at @kateeplummer.


Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more