Judge slaps down Donald Trump in New York civil fraud trial

A New York judge threatened to boot Donald Trump off the witness stand, saying the former president was turning his civil fraud trial into a “political rally”.

Donald Trump has traded barbs with the judge overseeing his civil fraud trial in a dramatic appearance on the witness stand that was nearly cut short because the former president ignored warnings to stop ranting.

In tense scenes in a Manhattan courtroom, Mr Trump clashed repeatedly with Justice Arthur Engoron while also lashing out at New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the case that could cripple his business empire.

But after giving evidence for nearly four hours, Mr Trump – the runaway favourite to be the Republican candidate in next year’s presidential election – said his testimony “went very well”.

Justice Engoron has already ruled that Mr Trump and his organisation committed fraud by misrepresenting the value of his real estate assets – which catapulted him to fame and ultimately the White House – by billions of dollars.

Donald Trump and his legal team at the start of his hearing. Picture: AFP

The judge-only trial will determine what punishment is meted out, with Ms James seeking a $US250m penalty.

Called to give evidence on Monday local time, Mr Trump defied warnings to directly answer the questions posed by prosecutors and complained that the trial was “very unfair”, prompting Justice Engoron to plead with the former president’s lawyers to “control your client”.

“I beseech you to control him if you can,” he said.

“If you can’t, I will. I will excuse him and use every negative inference that I can.”

Justice Engoron also told Mr Trump that his courtroom was “not a political rally”, and later called him a “broken record”.

But the 77-year-old did not back down, complaining about the “very hostile judge” who “always rules against me”, after he was fined $US10,000 last month for violating a gag order barring public comments about members of Justice Engoron’s staff.

“You can attack me or do whatever you want,” Justice Engoron said, “but just answer the questions.”

Justice Arthur Engoron in his Manhattan courtroom. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump also criticised the judge for his pre-trial fraud ruling against him.

“He called me a fraud and he didn’t know anything about me,” Mr Trump ranted.

Justice Engoron replied by telling him to read his ruling, suggesting he may not have.

“I think it’s fraudulent, the decision,” Mr Trump hit back.

“The fraud is on the court, not on me.”

During his testimony, Mr Trump backed the way his company’s financial statements were prepared, acknowledging that he looked at them and occasionally made suggestions.

He argued the statements actually underestimated his worth by “tens of millions of dollars” because they did not include his “brand value”.

“I became president because of my brand value,” Mr Trump said.

Speaking to reporters, he claimed Ms James’s case was “election interference” and “political warfare”, while his team blasted out emails accusing her of being a racist Democratic activist.

In one email, Mr Trump said the Attorney General was “trying to impose the ‘corporate death penalty’ upon me and even my family”.

Ms James hit back outside the courthouse, saying: “At the end of the day, the only thing that matters are the facts and the numbers. And numbers, my friends, don’t lie.”

Upon completing his testimony, Mr Trump said outside court that the case “should never have been brought”.

“It’s a case that should be immediately dismissed,” he argued.