Recently unearthed audio from a 2015 contradicts Donald Trump’s recent sworn statements in a fraud case concerning his alleged misrepresentation of net worth. In his November 6 testimony, Trump discussed his penthouse, inaccurately sizing it at 30,000 square feet instead of its actual 10,996 square feet. This discrepancy becomes more apparent when compared to a 2015 Forbes interview, where Trump claimed the apartment was a whopping 33,000 square feet.
In court, Trump deflected blame for the error onto unnamed individuals, despite personally promoting the exaggerated size. The newly released audio clip intensifies the exaggeration, revealing Trump’s claim of a 33,000-square-foot apartment. During his 2016 campaign, he also misled Forbes journalists about various asset sizes, including the penthouse.
“This is the entire floor of Trump Tower, just so you understand,” Trump told Forbes. “This isn’t like, I’ll show you. Now, this wraps all around the building. All around the elevators. And I have three times three. So there’s like 11,000 feet on a floor. So I have three. So 33,000—and I have the roof.”
Listen to the audio clip below, via Forbes.
Trump’s attempt to shift responsibility to others during the trial clashes with his assertion that he directed corrections to his net-worth statements. However, Forbes had already uncovered the discrepancy in 2017, informing Trump’s team, yet the incorrect figures persisted until May of that year. Trump’s testimony raises doubts about his involvement in statement edits during his presidency, contradicting his claim of seeing them only after completion.
While admitting to the overstatement of his penthouse value, Trump struggled to declare its true size, even in open court. The saga extends beyond him, with his former CFO, Allen Weisselberg, facing scrutiny for misleading testimony and prompting a forensic examination of Trump Organization data. With Trump set to testify again, the unfolding events cast shadows on the credibility of statements made under oath.
