The New York AG Letitia’s civil case against Donald Trump has concluded. According to Letitia James, a partisan Democrat who ran for office promising to bring down Donald Trump, Trump planned to defraud the banks by “overvaluing his assets”.
But did that happen? Not only is there reason to doubt that it happened, but even more reasons to believe it does not matter. Kevin O’Leary made this argument on CNN Friday. The $400 million investor took James’ case to pieces in just a few short minutes. It was the clearest and easiest-to-understand case dissection I have ever seen.
Kevin O’Leary, “Mr. Wonderful” went on CNN and absolutely DESTROYS Letitia James’ case against Trump:
“Every single real estate developer everywhere on Earth does this…Who lost money? Nobody! If you’re gonna sue this case and win, you gotta sue every real estate developer… pic.twitter.com/OM8Gq7s4iG
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 12, 2024
O’LEARY: Let’s just forget about Trump and politics for a moment and talk about the real estate market anywhere. If you are a developer, you have a building in America that is worth $500,000,000 and you want to build another building next to it. You go to the bank, and tell them, “This building has a value of $500,000,000.” I would like to borrow construction finance against this asset. Please tell me that it is worth $500 million.
You fight with the bank and they say, “Well, no, we don’t think it is worth $400 million.” Your assets are always portrayed in the best light possible. You want to make sure they are worth as much as possible because, in this case, you will only get a loan of 40 to 50%. You borrow the money. In the case of $500 million assets, you might get $250 million. Then, you use a construction financing loan to build the building. This is the case.
By the way, forget Trump. Every single real estate developer on Earth does this. The bank always says no, even though they talk about how much their asset is worth. It’s the way things are. In this case, I am not pro or against or don’t care about politics. Who lost money in this situation? Nobody. The construction loan was repaid by the bank, and a brand-new building was constructed. You have to sue all real estate developers in the world if you want to win this case. All they do is this. They do this all day, every day. This thing won’t survive an appeal, no matter what the fine. This is a ridiculous situation.
Look, I know Trump has many problems with other indictments, but as a developer, you are watching and wondering, “What’s this?” This is absurd.”
In other words, declaring the value of your assets to a bank means that you know they will do their research and then offer a compromise. The borrower does not have to know the exact value of a property because the appraiser can use a variety of factors to arrive at a different figure.
Trump declared the highest possible value, knowing the bank was likely to disagree and offer a lower price. This is exactly what occurred, and the bank received its money according to the terms agreed upon. No bank will accept an appraisal provided by a borrower at face value.
O’Leary argues that the way things happen is how they always happen in property development. James has decided that it’s now fraud for a bank to negotiate the value of an asset because Trump is involved. The only reason the case has progressed this far is because she was able to secure a judge so biased that it borders on parody.
I anticipate that the judge will rule against Trump within the next few days and I also expect to see his judgment frozen almost immediately pending an appeal. The former president is almost certain to win the legal battle, even if it takes years. What will happen to the other candidates? Who knows?
