‘Make me look sexy,’ Donald Trump jnr asks court artist

New York: During a break in Donald Trump jnr’s testimony in a fraud trial that could handcuff his family’s real estate business, he had a request for the courtroom sketch artist: “Make me look sexy”.

The oldest son of former US president Donald Trump had spent the previous hours on the witness stand, trying to distance himself from the questionable financial statements that a judge has already ruled fraudulent.

Donald Trump jnr steps out of court during a break in proceedings.Credit: AP

When he was finished, Trump jnr, the first of four family members slated to testify, paused to banter with courtroom sketch artist Jane Rosenberg, who was on assignment for Reuters.

According to Rosenberg, he asked her to produce a portrait that could boost his romantic appeal.

The veteran sketch artist said Trump jnr also offered an example he thought might be helpful: a flattering courtroom portrait of former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, not by Rosenberg, that has been circulating on the internet.

He said it made Bankman-Fried look like a “superstar”, Rosenberg told Reuters.

His brother Eric, also entrusted to run the senior Trump’s real estate empire, swore on Thursday (Friday AEDT) that he was never involved with or aware of financial statements that New York state lawyers say fraudulently puffed up the ex-president’s wealth and the worth of the family business.

But when a lawyer for the New York Attorney-General Letitia James pulled up decade-old emails in which a fellow Trump Organisation executive asked him for information needed to complete one of his father’s financial statements, the irritated son strove to clarify.

“We’re a major organisation, a massive real estate organisation. Yes, I’m fairly sure I understand that we have financial statements. Absolutely,” Eric Trump testified. But, he insisted: “I had no involvement and never worked on my father’s statement of financial condition.”

Eric followed Trump jnr to the witness stand at civil fraud trial, a prelude to their father’s scheduled testimony on Monday. Both sons are Trump Organisation executive vice presidents.

Answering questions for a second day, Trump jnr also revealed that gaming giant Bally’s recently paid their family company $US60 million ($93 million) to buy the right to operate a public golf course in New York City. The terms of the lease transfer for the former Trump Golf Links Ferry Point in the Bronx hadn’t previously been disclosed.

The sale came after the city strove to end Donald Trump’s association with the course after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The company managed the 18-hole course, now called Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point, until this year.

James is suing Donald Trump, his company and top executives including Eric and Donald jnr, accusing them of inflating the ex-president’s net worth on annual financial statements that were given to banks, insurers and others to secure loans and make deals.

The former president and other defendants deny wrongdoing.

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Reuters, AP