Donald Trump is expected to fly to New York Sunday so he can show up to court Monday morning as trial is slated to kick off in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil fraud case against the former president and his company, according to law enforcement sources.
Trump, 77 — who was campaigning in Iowa earlier Sunday — is due to stay in Trump Tower in Midtown on Sunday night and then plans to attend opening arguments at the courthouse in lower Manhattan, and possibly be there on Tuesday as well, sources told The Post.
His potential appearance would mark the first time Trump faces Justice Arthur Engoron, whom the 45th president has repeatedly blasted as carrying out a witch hunt against him – including in recent post on his social media platform Truth Social.
“I have a Deranged, Trump Hating Judge, who RAILROADED this FAKE CASE through a NYS Court at a speed never before seen,” Trump recently posted.
The trial – which is expected to last for roughly three months – is set to start at 10 a.m. with opening statements by James’ side and by lawyers for the defendants in the case including Trump, the Trump Organization, sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. and other former and current officials in the company.
Engoron will be ruling on the case – rather than a jury – to determine how much the defendants should owe after the judge found in a bombshell ruling Tuesday that Trump carried out a years-long fraud scheme by repeatedly lying on company documents inflating the worth of his assets to get an edge on loans and insurance.
The Tuesday ruling also revoked Trump’s business licenses in the Big Apple.
Since the case is civil – and not criminal – Trump and the other defendants do not face jail time. Rather, they only face monetary damages.
Trump’s lawyers have said in court documents in a separate case that their client plans to attend the first week of trial in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The documents were filed as the attorneys sought to postpone Trump’s deposition in a lawsuit from his former “fixer” and personal attorney Michael Cohen.
Trump’s lawyer didn’t immediately return a request for comment Sunday.
The AG’s office declined to comment on Trump’s potential appearance in court, but confirmed that James is planning on showing up for the proceedings Monday.
After openings on Monday, James’ office will begin calling witnesses, with Donald Bender – a partner at accounting firm Mazars, which handled the Trump Org’s account for years – slated to go first, according to the AG’s witness list.
Trump and sons Eric and Don. Jr. are listed as the 25th, 26th and 27th witnesses that James is planning to call.
This means Trump – aka “witness No. 27” – and his kids may not take the witness stand for a few weeks.
Trump has said that if James calls him, he plans to testify.
Also on the witness list – and a defendant in the case – is former long-time Trump Org. Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who was dismissed from the case, is also on the witness list, as is Cohen, court papers show.
James’ office says that Trump “grossly” exaggerated his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion a year — including by claiming that his Trump Tower penthouse triplex was 30,000 square feet when in fact it was only 11,000 square feet.
The embattled two-time GOP presidential candidate faces a slew of criminal charges in four separate cases in four separate states – New York, Florida, Washington DC and Georgia.
He is charged in a “hush money” in the Big Apple, he’s charged with mishandling sensitive national security documents in Florida and he’s accused of interfering with the 2020 election result in a case in Georgia and in DC.