Donald Trump’s court battle over claims he inflated his property values by $2.2 billion doesn’t seem to have deflated anyone’s appetite.
A large order of McDonald’s was lugged into the Manhattan court on Monday during the lunch break in Trump’s $250 million civil fraud trial.
Staff in dark suits were spotted carrying the brown paper bags into the Centre Street complex after the former president listened to prosecutors accuse him of decades of ‘lies’ over his business empire.
It’s not clear who ordered the haul of fast food, but Trump is known to enjoy an occasional meal from the Golden Arches.
His favorite meal is a Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, fries and a vanilla shake.
Earlier this year, he told the workers he knew the menu better than they did during a visit to a McDonald’s in East Palestine, Ohio.
He then gave burgers to members of the community devastated by a toxic train derailment.
One of his most famous White House events was when he gave the National Championship-winning Clemson University football team an order from his favorite fast food venue.
The court food order followed a dramatic morning session where Trump’s lawyers said he was actually worth more than amounts prosecutors claim were fraudulent.
Trump’s team also said Mar-a-Lago - which prosecutors said should be valued at as little as $18 million - is actually worth more than $ 1 billion.
In a combative defense opening statement Trump lawyer Alina Habba said: ‘There is a person out there who will buy that (Mar-A-Lago) for over $1 billion. That’s not fraud, that’s real estate.’
Earlier, Trump, 77, scowled and shook his head as prosecutors accused him of ‘lying year after year’ to exaggerate the value of his property empire by $2.2 billion to obtain favorable bank loans.
In extraordinary scenes inside New York Supreme Court the judge Arthur Engoron grinned for TV cameras as Trump sat looking sternly on, at one point muttering under his breath.
Habba told the court the amount prosecutors claimed was fraudulent was 'frankly less than what they (the Trump family) are worth’.
She said the true value of Trump’s net worth would include his personal brand from shows like The Apprentice.
‘There’s a lot of people in this room that probably don’t like that but it’s a fact,’ she said.
Habba claimed Trump’s Florida golf course Doral was also worth over $1 billion, sparking laughter in the public gallery.
She said it was ‘one of the best golf courses in the country’, and praised the Trump Organization as a ‘beautiful company’. She added: ‘Real estate is malleable but there was absolutely no intent to defraud, no conspiracy’.
The case set a ‘very dangerous precedent for all business owners in the state of New York,’ she said.
Just before entering the courtroom a combative Trump delivered an explosive tirade in which he railed against the ‘rogue’ judge and ‘racist horror show’ attorney general Letitia James, who brought the case.
Trump could face up to $250 million in fines and the potential loss of his licenses for buildings including Trump Tower in New York.
‘This is a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time,’ Trump said before going into court. ‘It’s a scam. It’s a sham. There was no crime. The crime is against me.’
