(New York) Stopping for a moment in front of the Trump Tower, along an artery whose fame is no longer only due to its art museums, its luxury stores and its billionaires’ residences, Maurice Perez can barely contain his indignation.
“Donald Trump is a man who denigrates people, who insults them and who has even said that he could shoot someone in the 5e Avenue without losing voters,” says this court messenger, aged 62. “Do you know what that means?” This means that he thinks he is above the law, that he can do whatever he wants, and his gullible followers will say nothing. »
PHOTO RICHARD HÉTU, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Court messenger Maurice Perez, in front of Trump Tower
“That’s why I won’t lose a second of sleep if Letitia James seizes her tower,” he adds, referring to the attorney general of the State of New York, who won her case against Donald Trump in a trial for fraud where the latter was sentenced to $464 million in financial compensation last February.
Not far from him, John Burke, a 67-year-old retiree, also speaks of a peaceful sleep while talking about the possible seizure of Trump Tower.
PHOTO RICHARD HÉTU, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
John Burke sells anti-Trump buttons in front of Trump Tower
“My goal is to make Trump disappear from our political life,” said this former public relations officer, while selling anti-Tump buttons in front of 725, 5e Avenue, last Thursday. “If the seizure of his tower can hasten his fall, I will have no trouble sleeping, even if I will no longer be able to sell macaroons. »
The catch is that Letitia James can’t grab Trump Tower. For what ? Because the 58-story skyscraper doesn’t belong to Donald Trump.
This is one of the curiosities and difficulties that the Attorney General will face if the former president fails, this Monday, to provide a bond of 454 million dollars to appeal last February’s judgment, or to to save time (it is not certain that the IPO of Truth Social this Monday could help it in the short term, even if it could enrich it by 3 billion dollars on paper).
The Trump Organization owns the tower
Never mind: Donald Trump suggested last week that Letitia James could seize Trump Tower (the attorney general might prefer to initiate proceedings to first seize the former president’s bank accounts).
“Keep your dirty paws away from Trump Tower!” “, read the title of a fundraising email sent by the Republican Party presidential candidate to his supporters. “Radical Democratic Attorney General Letitia James wants to seize my properties in New York. This includes the iconic Trump Tower. »
This may be the ultimate scam.
Donald Trump owns the triplex located at the top of Trump Tower, an apartment whose surface area he tripled in financial documents in order to fraudulently increase its value, according to Judge Arthur Engoron.
The Trump Organization owns the commercial part of the tower, including the Trump Grill (“perhaps the worst restaurant in America”, according to the magazine Vanity Fair) and the 45 Wine & Whiskey Bar, in front of which Brian and Michelle Doyle posed last Friday.
Originally from Florida, the young couple sees nothing other than a “political vendetta” in the lawsuit filed by Letitia James against Donald Trump.
“She said during her campaign that she would go after him. She tries to fulfill her promise. This is all political,” Brian says.
Michelle takes over. “Why don’t they go after Biden, who received checks from China and Ukraine? If we talk about corruption, Biden has done much worse,” she said, endorsing allegations that congressional Republicans have failed to prove despite several months of investigation.
“All these trials prove that they do not want to confront Trump on the political ground because they know that he will win, as he won in 2020,” adds this Trumpist, convinced that her favorite candidate was the victim of electoral fraud in the last presidential election.
Trump Building
Whatever her motivations, Letitia James has already targeted the tower that interests her in New York. This is the Trump Building, also known as 40 Wall Street, considered Donald Trump’s most important real estate asset.
PHOTO AHMED GABER, THE NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES
The Trump Building, located at 40 Wall Street in New York
The latter is not the owner, but the “land lease”, whose value could amount to 220 million dollars, belongs to him.
Letitia James is also interested in Donald Trump’s properties in Westchester County, a northern suburb of New York, including the Trump National Golf Club, a golf course, as well as a private estate called Seven Springs.
But back to 45 Wine & Whiskey Bar, where Carolyn Scott, a retired civil servant, reported hearing the bartender tell a customer that she had started a GoFundMe campaign to help Donald Trump get out of financial trouble. This campaign did not last long.
“She said Steve Bannon contacted her to tell her to stop her fundraiser and direct people to the official GoFundMe site,” the New Yorker said, referring to the former adviser to the president, who will stand trial in New York in May on charges of defrauding Donald Trump supporters who paid money to build a wall on the southern border.
“It was worth stopping at Trump Tower just to hear that,” she added with a laugh.
Wearing a MAGA cap, the barmaid did not want to confirm to a journalist what could in fact be the ultimate scam.