How Donald Trump's Week Fell Apart

Donald Trump had yet another turbulent week as the civil trial against him in New York draws to a close and elections went against the Republican.

The former president began the week with some positive news, with a New York Times/Siena College poll showing the frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary beating President Joe Biden in five key swing states heading into next year's election.

However, Trump's luck soon ran out following his testimony as part of New York Attorney General's Letitia James' $250 million lawsuit against him, the GOP suffering a number of defeats in Tuesday's elections, and his eldest daughter Ivanka Trump also answering questions under oath about his real estate company.

On Monday, Trump took the stand to defend himself in the civil fraud trial in New York, where he denied allegations that he inflated the value of his properties and assets in order to obtain favorable bank loans and tax breaks.

During his testimony, Trump admitted that his real estate company, The Trump Organization, submitted financial statements "to induce lending" from companies such as Deutsche Bank—an apparent admission to a key allegation by James' office.

Trump also admitted during his testimony that the valuation of his penthouse apartment in Trump Tower in Manhattan was "too high." Trump claimed in his financial statements that the luxury apartment was worth $327 million based on claims it was 30,000 square feet in size, when it is actually only 10,996 square feet.

Trump also repeatedly clashed with Judge Arthur Engoron while on the stand, with Engoron becoming increasingly exasperated at the former president's lengthy responses which failed to directly answer the questions he faced.

Engoron has already ruled that Trump had committed fraud by misrepresenting the value of his properties for years. The civil trial will now mainly determine the penalty, which will be decided by Engoron. The former president faces having his companies and other assets removed from his control, as well as a fine totaling hundred of millions of dollars and being banned from conducting business in New York.

In an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman said that Trump's testimony did nothing to help his defense and that he still faces a potentially "devastating" ruling in the civil fraud trial.

"Trump's testimony included a series of damaging admissions within a dust cloud of attacks on the judge, the attorney general and the entire process. It scored many important legal points for James and none for Trump," Litman wrote.

"Legally, Trump began in a hole and proceed to dig straight downward. Almost every observer of the trial anticipates a verdict that will be devastating to Trump and very possibly eviscerate what remains of his business empire."

Trump's legal team has been contacted for comment via email.

The day after his testimony, the GOP saw a difficult night across the country in the November 7 elections, including the Trump-endorsed candidate Daniel Cameron losing to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in the Kentucky gubernatorial elections.

Elsewhere, voters in Ohio supported a ballot to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022. The issue of abortion restrictions has been cited as one of the reasons why the GOP lost several races on Tuesday night, as well for an underwhelming performance in the November 2022 midterms.

The Democrats also enjoyed significant success in Virginia after holding on to the state's Senate and regaining control of the General Assembly. Virginia Democrats immediately stated that they would quash Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's hopes of introducing a 15-week abortion ban in the state now they have full control of the legislature.

Elsewhere, Ivanka Trump was called to testify in the New York civil trial on Wednesday, with James' office alleging she played a part in filing the financial statements while working as executive vice president at The Trump Organization, and that she used them to obtain three loans for the company from Deutsche Bank in 2012 and 2013.

While not as ill-tempered as her father's testimony, Ivanka Trump's day in court still revealed potentially key evidence against her father, including that she knew his net worth was not high enough to secure a deal with the German lender to be able to purchase the Doral golf club in Miami.

In 2011 emails, Ivanka Trump appeared to admit the requirement by lender Deutsche Bank that her father maintain a net worth of at least $3 billion was a problem, but encouraged Trump Organization officials to approve it.

A deal was eventually struck, with Trump as a guarantor, for the Deutsche Bank loan to go through, providing the former president's net worth was above $2.5 billion. That year, Trump claimed a net worth of $4.3 billion in financial statements, with James' office stating Trump's net worth was actually $1.6 billion in 2011.