Since 2 October 2023, former President Donald Trump has been on trial for fraud. The trial which takes place in New York city will determine what the punishments for fraud are going to be as Judge Engoron already found Trump guilty on 26 September.
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On that day, Judge Engoron ruled that Trump’s company
deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing loans.
Since that ruling, Trump’s team has been fighting to try and limit the damages. Amongst this, Trump has been attacking Forbes because the publication removed him from their wealthiest list. The trial and Forbes might not sound like events that should be related but they are... Forbes has hit back hard.
Donald Trump attacks Forbes
To understand why the two events are related, one must understand the close relationship between Donald Trump and the magazine Forbes. Every year, Forbes releases a list of the top 400 richest people. Since the 1980’s, Donald Trump has been on that list (with the exception of the years 1990 - 1996).
In order to make that list, Forbes reporters are in touch with the people they write about. For instance, Forbes reports that in 2009, Trump and his CFO, Allen Weisselberg, ‘summoned a Forbes reporter to a meeting’ asking why that reporter ‘was hesitant to add Trump’s personal home to the valuation.’
Now in 2023, Forbes' new tally resulted in Trump being bumped off the 400 list. A removal that Trump has vehemently attacked. On Wednesday 11 October, he took to Truth Social and wrote:
I hereby demand a full apology from the failing Forbes magazine
He also called the Forbes reporters ‘dumb’ and accused them of being ‘assigned to hit (him) hard’. He also claims that Forbes collaborated with Attorney General Jessica James who is prosecuting Trump for fraud.
According to Adam Klasfeld from The Messenger, Trump's attacks were timed perfectly. He writes:
If you were wondering why Trump suddenly went after Forbes and Dan Alexander, he posted his swipe hours after their fact-checking emails about his net worth … were entered into evidence
Forbes presents new evidence
As Forbes is under attack from the former President, Dan Alexander (the ‘dumb’ reporter) released an article in which he revealed Forbes has proof that Trump and his former CFO Allen Weisselberg could not have made a mistake when assessing Trump’s net worth.
Forbes disclosed that they possess ‘old emails and notes’ that ‘show that Weisselberg absolutely thought about Trump’s apartment’ meaning that he lied under oath during Trump’s civil fraud trial.
Those ‘old emails and notes’ allegedly show that Weisselberg continuously tried to have Forbes estimate the apartment for more than it was worth. Forbes reporter Dan Alexander writes:
Given the fact that these discussions continued for years, and that Weisselberg took a very detailed approach in reviewing Trump’s assets with Forbes, it defies all logic to think he truly believes what he is now saying in court.
Alexander continues his exposé and quotes some exchanged between Forbes and Weisselberg back in 2012.
Allen asked why we count large private estates for other billionaires and not Trump. He said we should be including his NY penthouse. He thinks it’s worth more [than] $88m.
However, the Forbes reporter in charge of the estimation in 2012 didn’t agree with that price and therefore estimated it at $64 million. Dan Alexander continues to explain that over the years Trump’s CFO continued to overestimate the penthouse, in 2014 it was supposedly worth $163 million.
In 2016, Forbes found a ‘discrepancy’ in the square footage of Trump’s property which they emailed the Trump Organization about. However, the organisation kept running with the 33,000 square footage until Forbes published an article uncovering the lie in 2017. This is what Attorney General James is using in court.
However, it appears that AG James will have more evidence to use from Forbes as Dan Alexander reveals that some of the ‘old emails and notes’ have not yet made their way into court.
Sources:
AP News: Judge rules Donald Trump defrauded banks and insurers while building real estate empire
The Guardian: Trump demands apology from Forbes for being cut from wealthiest list again
Forbes: Trump’s Longtime CFO Lied, Under Oath, About Trump Tower Penthouse
Forbes: Here’s How Much Donald Trump Is Worth
CNN: October 2, 2023 - Trump civil fraud trial in New York begins
