Donald Trump's court battle over claims he inflated his property values by $2.2 billion doesn't seem to have deflated anyone's appetite.
A large order of McDonald's was lugged into the Manhattan court on Monday during the lunch break in Trump's $250 million civil fraud trial.
Staff in dark suits were spotted carrying the brown paper bags into the Centre Street complex after the former president listened to prosecutors accuse him of decades of 'lies' over his business empire.
It's not clear who ordered the haul of fast food, but Trump is known to enjoy an occasional meal from the Golden Arches.
His favorite meal is a Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, fries and a vanilla shake.
Earlier this year, he told the workers he knew the menu better than they did during a visit to a McDonald's in East Palestine, Ohio.
He then gave burgers to members of the community devastated by a toxic train derailment.
One of his most famous White House events was when he gave the National Championship-winning Clemson University football team an order from his favorite fast food venue.
The court food order followed a dramatic morning session where Trump's lawyers said he was actually worth more than amounts prosecutors claim were fraudulent.
Trump's team also said Mar-a-Lago - which prosecutors said should be valued at as little as $18 million - is actually worth more than $ 1 billion.
In a combative defense opening statement Trump lawyer Alina Habba said: 'There is a person out there who will buy that (Mar-A-Lago) for over $1 billion. That’s not fraud, that’s real estate.'
Earlier, Trump, 77, scowled and shook his head as prosecutors accused him of 'lying year after year' to exaggerate the value of his property empire by $2.2 billion to obtain favorable bank loans.
In extraordinary scenes inside New York Supreme Court the judge Arthur Engoron grinned for TV cameras as Trump sat looking sternly on, at one point muttering under his breath.
Habba told the court the amount prosecutors claimed was fraudulent was 'frankly less than what they (the Trump family) are worth’.
She said the true value of Trump’s net worth would include his personal brand from shows like The Apprentice.
'There’s a lot of people in this room that probably don’t like that but it’s a fact,' she said.
Habba claimed Trump’s Florida golf course Doral was also worth over $1 billion, sparking laughter in the public gallery.
She said it was ‘one of the best golf courses in the country’, and praised the Trump Organization as a ‘beautiful company’. She added: ‘Real estate is malleable but there was absolutely no intent to defraud, no conspiracy’.
The case set a ‘very dangerous precedent for all business owners in the state of New York,’ she said.
Just before entering the courtroom a combative Trump delivered an explosive tirade in which he railed against the 'rogue' judge and 'racist horror show' attorney general Letitia James, who brought the case.
Trump could face up to $250 million in fines and the potential loss of his licenses for buildings including Trump Tower in New York.
'This is a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time,' Trump said before going into court. 'It's a scam. It's a sham. There was no crime. The crime is against me.'
Who the fuck cares, how is this news 😂
If you read the entire article, it's pretty clear that this is a fluff piece for Trump.
They order McDonalds to give an excuse for the story, then The Daily Mail can just repeat Trump's propaganda. For example, they talk about how Trump served McDonalds at the WH, but not about how poorly that went over.
They say that "the prosecutor" is saying that Mar-a-Lago is worth only $18 million, but those are numbers that came from Trump's tax filings when he was defrauding the government to pay less in taxes. Those numbers came from Trump.
They quote Trump and his lawyers over and over, but don't bother posting quotes from people critical to Trump.
So no, this is not news. It's propaganda.
Thank you, I refused to click it on principle.
They could've mentioned several other food stories related to the cheeto, such as when he declared that he would buy everyone's food in a restaurant and then promptly left without spending a dime, or the time he ate a taco bowl to try to win over hispanic voters.
The Mail continues to be a fucking rag.
Precisely. And this is how Trump wins. Dumb shit like this filling the news, TV, and internet every goddamned day. It's how he beat out all the other candidates in 2016, it's how he beat Hillary Clinton, and it's how he's going to win in 2024. Constant free news coverage from a fawning media that care more about ad clicks than the society we live in.
This is news because one of the single biggest con men in American - perhaps world - history is trying to get away with crimes that are fully in the public record, and half of the political might of the country is willing to go along with it and shield him from repercussions because he’s a populist autocrat without whom they cannot win.
What the fuck does that have to do with his weird lunch order lol
Maybe run that story instead instead of this moronic swill, this is right up there with Tswift attending a sports game in terms of newsworthiness
You’re making a fair point, but we have to factor in:
Edit: you know what, it's not worth arguing about the rampant filler journalists use before burying relevant stuff deep in stories. Put 3 paragraphs about Trumps past McDonalds orders at the front of the news story, why the fuck not.
You deadass care that someone famous ordered McDonalds for lunch?
I do too, maybe give the headline a read bud 🤣
Not only do you care about someone else's MacD's order, you're trying to comb through my posts like it's some kinda gotcha XD
You seem to have wayy more passion invested in fast food lunches than I ever would, so I'll stop here. Have a lovely night bud! 🌙