Like father, like Trump sons?

As a regular observer of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud trial against Donald Trump and others, I often emerge from the courthouse convinced I have seen the craziest thing ever, only to be proven wrong days, even hours, later. But nothing prepared me for a scene I witnessed early in the case, when a tall, unassuming man walked over to James, bent down, and with what struck me as genuine politesse and little pomp, shook her hand.

Mr. Manners is also known as defendant Eric Trump. Unlike his bombastic, media-loving brother and co-defendant Donald Trump Jr., who has not attended any of the trial to date, Eric has quietly sat in the front row of the gallery, right behind the defense team, on several occasions. And just as he has sometimes been in his dad’s political life, at trial, Eric has been a steadfast but silent supporter who would be unremarkable but for his recognizable face, his friendly greeting of journalists he’s come to know over the years (in marked contrast to his dad’s constantly lambasting some of their outlets as “fake news”), and even his gently affectionate pat of his father’s back after the elder Trump overheats during a televised courthouse hallway rant.

This week, both Don Jr. and Eric are expected at the courthouse, but this time, as trial witnesses in the attorney general’s case, not mere observers. Because Eric often flies under the radar compared to his more attention-seeking brother (despite expressing some equally troubling views), some expect that Don Jr.’s testimony will be this week’s popcorn moment. I’m not one of them.

Why? As someone who has studied the case filings and watched much of the trial in person, I know that Eric, who insisted at his deposition that his participation in developing certain properties was at a “very macro” level, was not just more enmeshed with Trump Organization operations than most understand; he was also allegedly heavily involved in the valuation of several assets at issue.

In particular, according to the attorney general, Eric spearheaded the planned development of the Seven Springs property in New York’s Westchester County, as well as certain golf courses. According to internal Trump Org work papers cited by the AG, Eric’s word was a key basis for valuing those properties over several years.

And according to the attorney general, Eric deliberately hid certain information from other professionals and/or purposefully inflated the value of Trump Org holdings. For example, despite knowing that one of the towns encompassing the property imposed significant limits on development, Eric “concealed those limitations from appraisers in order to inflate the value of the Seven Springs estate and fraudulently increase the value of the tax deduction from the resulting easement donation,” according to the attorney general’s complaint.

James also links Eric to some of the most egregious, blatant overvaluation of Trump assets, including his triplex apartment at Trump Tower in Manhattan, and a residential building where Eric allegedly knew the unsold units were rent-stabilized.

Put another way, Eric’s testimony — assuming he recalls various events and testifies truthfully — could help establish the missing link in the attorney general’s remaining claims: intent, both his own and those of his co-defendants.

That’s not to say Don Jr. wasn’t a part of the fraud. Indeed, after their father became president, Don Jr. and Allen Weisselberg became the two trustees of the revocable trust into which all Trump Org assets were placed. As such, Don Jr. signed documents attesting to the accuracy of Trump’s financial worth for years. But whether that involvement was knowingly deceptive, as opposed to cursory and titular, is unclear. By contrast, a review of the AG’s allegations makes clear that Eric, depicted as a flighty, dumb “himbo” on “Saturday Night Live,” is the opposite: a methodical, detail-oriented executive who is effectively running the Trump Org since his father first took office — and who, at his May 2023 deposition, repeatedly minimized his role and disclaimed recollections of events and transactions memorialized in documents the AG showed him. 

Before trial, the Trump defendants submitted the transcript of Eric’s deposition in its entirety to support their claim that the attorney general’s claim of repeated, persistent fraud was unjustified. Clearly, then, they believe Eric, who invoked the Fifth Amendment hundreds of times during his earlier, investigative deposition in this case, could help their case when he takes the stand. Will Eric be the hero? Or will he show himself to be every bit the Trump his father trained him to be? Watch this space.