Former President Donald Trump spoke to reporters after the first week of his criminal trial in a Manhattan courtroom, where he faces 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business documents to cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Trump called the criminal case — and his recent civil fraud case in Manhattan — “a concerted witch hunt.”
(In the civil case, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump lied and inflated his real estate assets on financial statements for years to get better loans and deals from banks and insurers, ordering Trump to pay $355 million in penalties and banning him from running a company in New York City for three years.)
Trump: No business is coming into the city. None whatsoever. pic.twitter.com/Dla1C0kgda
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 19, 2024
Trump, who is appealing the fraud verdict in the appellate court, claims that the fraud case is “a threat to democracy.” He also insinuates that the case and it’s verdict have turned businesses away from the Big Apple.
Trump said Friday, not for the first time: “Nobody, no business is coming into the city, none whatsoever.”
Trump’s assertion that New York has become unfriendly to business is belied by certain facts. New business applications in the state were up 8.1% last year, while investment giant Sequoia Capital — with stakes in Apple, Nvidia and Airbnb — expanded its operations in New York City.
Also contrary to Trump’s claim is a Wall Street Journal report this week that, according to the IT venture capital firm SignalFire, New York City “attracted the greatest share of tech workers who were on the move last year.”
Also notable: The real estate industry publication The Real Deal reported this month that the corporation Kering (the French luxury group that owns the fashion brands Gucci, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen) just bought retail space (115,000 sq. ft.) on Fifth Avenue for $963 million. The same report revealed that Prada bought its flagship store (also on Fifth Avenue) for $822 million. Alone those two all-cash real estate deals total almost $1.8 billion.