DONALD Trump has clashed with a judge after bragging about his Aberdeenshire golf course while giving testimony in a fraud trial.
On Monday, the former US president appeared in a Manhattan court house and took to the witness stand in a fraud case brought by the New York attorney general Letitia James.
Both Trump and several top executives at the Trump Organization are accused of fraudulently inflating the value of properties in order to secure better loans from banks.
During his testimony Trump was asked about the value of his golf course in Balmedie.
Financial statements seen by the court show that the Trump Organization claimed they had permission to build more homes than was the case.
Trump was asked by prosecutors why the value of his Aberdeenshire property had increased by $245 million between 2013-2014 when very little work had been done to it.
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“Aberdeen is the oil capital of Europe,” he said.
“Aberdeen is a very rich place. It’s an incredible piece of land and it may be the greatest golf course ever built.
“It’s one of the greatest pieces of land I’ve ever seen.”
However, judge Arthur Engoron said Trump’s statements about Aberdeen were “irrelevant” and pleaded with his attorneys to control their client.
The court has already ruled that Trump and his eldest sons are already liable for fraud. This trial merely seeks to decide how much they will be asked to pay in damages, with the court currently seeking around $250 million.
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It is one of numerous legal proceedings Trump is confronting, including federal and state charges accusing him of crimes including illegally hoarding classified documents and scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Though the fraud case does not carry the prospect of prison as the criminal prosecutions do, its allegations of financial improprieties cut to the heart of the brand he spent decades crafting.
The suggestion that Trump is worth less than he has claimed has been interpreted by him as a cutting insult.
“I’m worth billions of dollars more than the financial statements,” he said, telling a state lawyer: “You go around and try and demean me and try and hurt me, probably for political reasons.”
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