Under oath and under fire, former President Donald Trump sat for a seven-hour interview with the New York attorney-general’s office in April, part of the civil fraud case against him and his company.
But as lawyers from the office grilled Trump on the inner workings of his family business, which is accused of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars, he responded with a series of meandering non-sequiturs, political digressions and self-aggrandising defences.
Asked about his authority at the Trump Organisation while he was in the White House, Trump responded that he considered the presidency “the most important job in the world, saving millions of lives”.
“I think you would have a nuclear holocaust if I didn’t deal with North Korea,” he explained, and then added: “And I think you might have a nuclear war now if you want to know the truth.”
Although Trump invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination when initially questioned by the office last year, he answered questions from the attorney-general, Letitia James, and her lawyers in the April deposition, a transcript of which was unsealed on Wednesday.
The transcript shows a combative Trump, who was named as a defendant in the case alongside his company and three of his children, at times barely allowing lawyers to get a word in. The former President frequently seems personally offended by the idea that his net worth is being questioned.
Trump is seeking to have the case thrown out. A judge could rule on that effort next month, but for now, the case appears headed to trial in early October.
Below are some of the highlights from the transcript of his deposition:
Trump refers to his time in the Oval Office with a notable understatement.
The former President was asked by Kevin Wallace, a senior lawyer in James’ office, about his relationship with his company. He said that he was not the final decision-maker, though he later suggested he might be involved in “something major, final decisions, whatever”.
WALLACE:
Mr Trump, are you currently the person with ultimate decision-making authority for the Trump Organisation?
TRUMP:
No.
WALLACE:
Who would that be?
TRUMP:
My son Eric is much more involved with it than I am. I’ve been doing other things.
Trump claims to have protected the world from nuclear war while in office.
In an exchange soon after that, Trump acknowledged that those other things included having been President.
TRUMP:
I was very busy. I was — I considered this the most important job in the world, saving millions of lives. I think you would have a nuclear holocaust if I didn’t deal with North Korea. I think you would have a nuclear war if I weren’t elected. And I think you might have a nuclear war now if you want to know the truth.
Trump derides his annual financial statements, saying that he never felt they would be taken seriously. The attorney-general’s case against Trump focuses on his annual financial statements, which she says overvalue his property by up to $2.2 billion each year.
Each of Trump’s financial statements includes a number of disclaimers, which acknowledge that Trump’s accountants had not reviewed or authenticated his claims. During the interview, Trump refers to those disclaimers.
TRUMP:
I never felt that these statements would be taken very seriously because you open it up and right at the beginning of the statement, you read a page and a half of stuff saying, go get your own accounting, go get your own this, go get your own that.
WALLACE:
So why did you get these statements prepared?
TRUMP:
I would say more for maybe myself just to see the list of properties. I think more for myself than anything else. Sometimes an institution would like to see. Trump then said his properties were even more valuable than was reflected in the statements.
New York Times News Service