Donald Trump has criticized New York for being “corrupt” and “letting immigrants come in and take over” after he was fined $355 million in a civil fraud verdict.
Judge Arthur Engoron issued the ruling Friday that will also bar the former president from being CEO of a New York company for three years.
Speaking outside his Mar-a-lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, the 77-year-old went on the offensive, lashing out at Engoron and Attorney General Letitia James.
The former President said: ‘I paid approximately $300 million in taxes when immigrants came and took over New York, and they wanted me out.
‘These are radical left democrats, they are crazy. His electoral interference.
The former president also said the case had been brought by the Justice Department and Biden and constituted election interference.
Trump’s fine comes as New York is hit by a wave of immigration crime after more than 170,000 people were allowed to flood over the past two years.
The former president also said the case had been brought by the Justice Department and Biden and constituted election interference.
His children Don. Jr and Eric were also fined more than $1 million each and suspended for two years.
He added: “It affects New York, where we have a totally corrupt attorney general; she campaigned on the fact that ‘I’ll get Trump.’ We’re going to appeal.”
‘More important than that, everything comes from the Department of Justice, everything comes from Biden. It is a witch hunt against his political opponent, the likes of which have never been seen before in our country.
‘There was no fraud, all the banks got money. They love Trump, they testified that Trump is a great customer. The judge knows it, he is simply a corrupt person.
‘Letitia James is a horribly corrupt attorney general and it’s all about election interference. There were no victims, the banks made a lot of money.
‘Frankly, if we don’t succeed, New York State will disappear. People are moving out of New York State. Because of this, they will move at a much faster rate.
‘(New York) is a state that is going bankrupt, because everyone is leaving. “Everything is led by Biden.”
His children Don. Jr and Eric were also fined more than $1 million each and suspended for two years.
Trump, whose wealth Forbes estimates at $2.5 billion, now has 30 days to come up with the money or present a $35 million bond.
Judge Arthur Engoron speaks during the trial of former US President Donald Trump, at a Manhattan courthouse in New York City, on October 3, 2023.
New York Attorney General Letitia James offers a press conference following the ruling issued against former Trump on February 16, 2024
View of former US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion, where he spoke on Friday
Trump also called James a “racist” in a post on Truth Social and continued to attack the city, where he has $690 million in real estate, for trying to “throw him out.”
He said he helped New York through “the worst of times” with his businesses and is now “overrun by Biden’s violent immigrant crime.”
Trump is likely to appeal the verdict, which would have devastating consequences for his real estate empire not only in the Big Apple but around the world.
New York City is currently struggling under the weight of tens of thousands of immigrants arriving at its borders in search of shelter.
In the last two years alone, the city had to deal with the arrival of more than 170,000 immigrants.
Mayor Eric Adams has said the cost of the immigration crisis in the Big Apple is $4.6 billion as he pleads with the state for more money.
The state’s governor, Kathy Hochul, pledged $2.4 billion to the crisis last month, more than double last year’s proposal.
In court on Friday, five immigrants were formally charged with assaulting two NYPD officers in Times Square last month.
Yohenry Brito, 24, Yorman Reverón, 24, Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, Darwin Andrés Gómez-Izquiel, 19, and Wilson Juárez, 21, were sent to Rikers Island to await trial after being arraigned . They all pleaded not guilty.
Yohenry Brito was at the center of the melee, which began when he resisted arrest, according to the NYPD.
Wilson Juarez, left, and Kelvin Servita Arocha, who ICE officials say are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Darwin Andrés Gómez-Izquiel and Yorman Reverón were also among those charged on Friday.
All face charges of second-degree assault and obstruction of government administration, except Juarez, who is accused of tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. They are all due back in court on April 13.
A total of eight immigrants have been charged since the attack, and police are still searching for at least eight other suspects they believe were involved in the melee.
Earlier this week, it was also learned that two of the individuals, Juárez and Servita-Arocha, were identified as members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
ICE spokesperson Marie Ferguson told the New York Post: “Both non-citizens have been identified as members of the transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua.”
Juárez and Arocha, who were released without bail after being charged, were detained by officers inside a Bronx apartment after police executed a warrant for another migrant wanted in connection with the attack.
On Friday, Juárez’s lawyer asked that his bail be set at $1 so that he can remain detained and avoid being deported by ICE.
Arocha was arrested on an ICE warrant and his custody status will be reevaluated.
Juárez was detained thanks to a deportation order from a judge in El Paso, Texas, issued a year ago, according to the Post.