Trump battled a fraud lawsuit in New York that could determine his future as a businessman with a torrent of insults and taunts… and no coherent legal strategy.
Former President Donald Trump wrapped up his massive civil fraud case with a trademark personal touch: An attack on the judge, right in the courtroom.
“You have your own agenda,” Trump told Judge Arthur Engoron Thursday. “You can’t listen for more than one minute.”
And with that, the trial was over. Now, it’s the judge’s turn.
The man Trump just spent months taunting and insulting will now deliver a judgement within weeks that could wallop Trump’s business empire, with hundreds of millions in fines, a possible lifetime ban on doing business in New York, and possibly other penalties. This case could force Trump to hand over flagship New York properties, including even his Trump Tower headquarters in Manhattan. Trump, who spent a lifetime buffing his preferred self-image as the ultimate brash New York real estate tycoon, may shortly be banned from working in the Big Apple ever again.
With so much at stake, Trump’s decision to repeatedly insult the man with so much power over his fate was an unorthodox choice, to say the least.
Judge Engoron is going to drop an incredibly well researched and factually sound order. Trump underestimated this guy. He thought he could provoke him into making bad decisions, but channeling that anger into professionalism will end up crafting a ruling the appellate courts can’t touch.
It’s not like they have a lack of evidence. There’s a mountain of evidence they committed the offense and how egregious their conduct was. They ran their business like gangsters.
Never pick a fight against a nerd with power