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The two adult sons of Donald Trump need to stop talking about the apparent value of Mar-a-Lago after a judge ruled that the former president inflated its worth in financial statements, according to Trump's niece.
Mary Trump, author, podcast host, and frequent critic of her uncle, hit out at Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. after the judge overseeing New York Attorney General Letitia James' fraud $250 million lawsuit against the three men and the Trump Organization ruled that the former president misled banks and insurers by inflating the value of his properties in his annual statements of financial conditions for years in order to obtain financial perks.
The judge's decision was met with dismay from Trump and his two sons, with the former president calling it part of a "widespread, radical attack" against him and saying he is planning to appeal.
In a lengthy post on X, formerly Twitter, Mary Trump accused Eric and Donald Trump Jr. of lying about the value of Mar-a-Lago in the wake of Engoron's ruling.
"Of course, we didn't expect the adult sons to sit back and accept the results of the court's fairly determined decision. We know from long experience that when they lose on the merits, they immediately attack the institution itself. (Wonder where they got that from?)" she wrote.
"But Judge Arthur Engoron didn't just make up Mar-a-Lego's valuation. He cited the Palm Beach County Tax Assessor's number, which is between $18 million and $[27] million. Donald had no problem with that valuation when it was used to determine his taxes!"
In his ruling, Engoron noted that Trump valued the resort between 2011 to 2021 at $347 million to $739 million based on the premise that it was unrestricted property and could be developed for residential use. During this same period, the resort was assessed by Palm Beach County as having a market value based on its restricted use as a social club ranging between $18 million and $27.6 million.
As noted by both Mary Trump and Engoron, the former president's assessment of the value of Mar-a-Lago is around 2,300 percent higher than the tax assessor's appraisal.
"Here's the question: Are Donald and Eric willing to pay 2,300% more in taxes? If not, I suggest they keep their mouths...Letitia James is listening," she added.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump Organization via email for comment.
In a series of posts on X, Eric Trump dismissed Engoron's ruling and claimed that Mar-a-Lago is actually valued at around $1 billion, making it the "most valuable residential property" in the country.
Donald Trump Jr. also posted on X that if his father had said Mar-a-Lago was worth $18 million then the former president would be "charged with trying to underpay" his real estate taxes.
"If Mar-a-Lago is worth $18 million... I'll take 10 please!!!" he added.
During his April deposition as part of James' investigation, Trump said that he would be able to call on people who could value his Mar-a-Lago property at as much as $1.5 billion. When asked where he got this number from, Trump replied the assessment was "just broker talk."
"We will have people come in, you know, experts at this, to show a price of 1.5, I believe the price will be; $1.5 billion," Trump said.
Tuesday's ruling from Engoron now means that the October 2 civil trial to resolve James' suit will not need to determine if Trump had provided "false and misleading" statements inflating the value of his properties and assets by billions of dollars—the biggest claim put forward by the New York Attorney General's office—but will mainly decide on the penalty.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more