Testifying for Trump\u2019s defence, a Florida real estate lawyer said the property could be sold as a home, notwithstanding decades-old legal documents in which Trump said he intended to forego its use as anything but a club. Then a Palm Beach luxury real estate broker testified that he\u2019d value the historic estate at more than $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) as of 2021.<\/p>\n
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Mar-a-Lago, one of many ritzy properties in Pal Beach, Florida. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something breathtaking. It\u2019s something amazing to see,\u201d broker Lawrence Moens said before showing a glimmering video complete with swelling music, aerial shots of the property at sunrise and sunset and a closing image of an American flag.<\/p>\n His testimony was punctuated by wry remarks. He described a photo of a different part of ritzy Palm Beach as showing \u201csome land, some houses\u201d, for instance.<\/p>\n At one point, Moens even briefly answered a personal phone call while on the witness stand: \u201cDad, I love you, but I\u2019ve got to get off the phone\u201d.<\/p>\n Spanning 7 hectares with waterfront on two sides, the Trump estate and social club is his home, a place where the former leader and current Republican 2024 presidential front-runner has conducted high-profile meetings while in and out of office, and the spot where federal special counsel Jack Smith alleges he improperly stashed classified documents, which Trump denies.<\/p>\n Mar-a-Lago is also a key element of the current New York civil case and Trump\u2019s vehement frustration with it.<\/p>\n Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump speaks at an event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa., on Saturday.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>The Gazette\/AP<\/cite><\/p>\n State Attorney-General Letitia James\u2019 lawsuit claims Trump and his company deceived lenders and others by giving them financial statements that greatly overstated the values of some of his prime assets, including Mar-a-Lago.<\/p>\n Judge Arthur Engoron, in a pretrial ruling declaring that Trump and his company engaged in fraud, found that he exaggerated Mar-a-Lago\u2019s worth by as much as 2300 per cent, compared to the Palm Beach County tax appraiser\u2019s valuations. They ranged from $US18 million to $US28 million.<\/p>\n Trump denies any wrongdoing, saying that his financial statements actually undervalued his assets and were accompanied by disclaimers that wipe away liability for any mistakes.<\/p>\n His frequent complaints about the case have often spotlighted the claims about Mar-a-Lago, one of the holdings he called \u201cthe Mona Lisas of properties\u201d during pretrial questioning. As recently as last Friday, Trump vented on his Truth Social platform that the judge and James \u201cfalsified the value of Mar-a-Lago\u201d.<\/p>\n The Palm Beach County tax assessment that the judge mentioned was based on Mar-a-Lago\u2019s annual net operating income as a club, not on its resale value as a home or on its reconstruction cost. The county uses the operating-income method to value other social clubs, and the outcome carries tax benefits for Trump \u2013 a $US602,000 property tax bill this year, compared to about $US18 million if Mar-a-Lago were assessed at $US1 billion.<\/p>\n In a 2002 agreement with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the club and Trump signed over \u201cany and all of their rights to develop the property for any usage other than club usage\u201d.<\/p>\n Yet when pulling information together for Trump\u2019s annual financial statements, his former corporate controller Jeffrey McConney valued Mar-a-Lago club as though the property could be sold as a private home. The statements pegged it as high as $US612 million in 2021.<\/p>\n James said that those values ignored the agreement with the National Trust. The attorney-general, a Democrat, maintains that Trump should have valued Mar-a-Lago by its operating income, as the county does.<\/p>\n But Trump, in his own testimony last month, said he believed he retained the right to re-designate the property as a home. The National Trust has declined to comment on whether it agrees.<\/p>\n A defence witness, Miami-based real estate attorney John Shubin, testified on Tuesday that \u201cthere is absolutely no prohibition on the use of Mar-a-Lago as a single-family residence\u201d.<\/p>\n He noted that the property was simultaneously a club and Trump\u2019s residence. Shubin also pointed to a 1993 agreement between Trump and the city that said Mar-a-Lago would revert to private residential use if the club were \u201cabandoned\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAnybody who buys it \u2026 would just step into the shoes of President Trump,\u201d defence lawyer Christopher Kise said.<\/p>\n Some Palm Beach luxury real estate agents have told The Associated Press that the property would sell for $US300 million to $US600 million, and possibly $1 billion or more if it sparked a bidding war among ultra-wealthy contenders.<\/p>\n So said Moens, a longtime Mar-a-Lago club member who has said he once sold another Palm Beach property on Trump\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n In a pretrial report, Moens pegged Mar-a-Lago\u2019s 2021 value at more than $US1 billion, saying it would be an \u201cunparalleled\u201d family compound for a rarefied cadre of the world\u2019s financial elite.<\/p>\n Asked during pretrial questioning whom he meant, Moens said he could \u201cdream up anyone from Elon Musk to Bill Gates\u201d and \u201ckings, emperors, heads of state\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n