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Trump: 87-year-old woman 'is trying to rip me off' (Chicago Tribune)

By Annie Sweeney, Chicago TribuneMcClatchy-Tribune Regional News

May 16--Billionaire mogul Donald Trump, his signature bravado on full display Wednesday, clashed repeatedly with the opposing lawyer during a second day on the witness stand at a trial in Chicago.

Trump incessantly talked over attorney Shelly Kulwin as he sought to make his points. Kulwin raised his voice as he moved over and over again to strike Trump's remarks. Finally, the lawyer jabbed at the lectern and demanded that the judge grant him a sidebar for a private discussion.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve dismissed jurors from the courtroom and issued a calm but pointed reprimand, addressing a silent Trump and a frustrated Kulwin like a parent correcting misbehaving children.

"You've been dancing around and boxing with each other for the last 45 minutes," she said. "... You've got to stop it. Let's get control of ourselves."

The sparring came during Trump's testimony at a trial stemming from a lawsuit by Jacqueline Goldberg, 87, alleging that Trump International Hotel and Tower reneged on financial incentives promised to early investors in the luxury downtown development.

St. Eve told the chatty Trump to narrow his responses and stick to the questions asked of him. She told Kulwin to simplify his questions about the complicated condo deal at the heart of the dispute.

"I'm going to give you both time to catch your breath," the judge said. "... Do you think the jury likes this? If you do, I can tell you they don't."

Over the two days of testimony, Trump dodged and weaved, trying to distance himself from specific knowledge of the condo development plans, often trailing off into lengthy observations about his many hotels.

Trump also took every opportunity he could to tell the jury that a clause in the contract allowed him to change plans and that Goldberg had asked for that right to be removed. Yet her request was refused, and she bought two condos anyway, he said.

"And then she sued me! Unbelievable!" he said, his voice rising as he lifted his arms and grimaced in a moment reflective of the Trump the nation has come to know from his network TV reality show.

When the real estate mogul's testimony ended, he took his complaint with Goldberg to the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse lobby, telling reporters that the mother of four was scamming the billionaire to keep her $500,000 deposit.

"She's trying to rip me off," Trump said in a matter-of-fact tone. "She really is. She concocted the whole situation."

He then accused the octogenarian of "playing the age card."

When Kulwin was told of Trump's remarks, his laugh echoed in the courthouse lobby. It was Trump who played Goldberg, her lawyer said.

"She comes from a different era ... where people like Donald Trump didn't exist. She comes from an era where a deal was a deal," Kulwin said.

Goldberg, who is a financial planner and real estate developer with a master's degree, contends that she carefully investigated the purchase of the two units at Trump as long-term financial investments after learning of the development. Among the incentives to buy was the promise that purchasers of "hotel units" would share in $5 million in profits from meeting rooms and ballroom rentals.

But by the time she closed on the deal in 2006, the incentives had changed, the lawsuit alleged.

Kulwin pressed Trump about his extensive knowledge of the hotel business, suggesting he knew early on that he would rescind such attractive incentives because they didn't make financial sense and gave investors too much control.

"Are you one of the leading hotel guys in the country?" Kulwin asked. Yes, Trump responded.

But under questioning by his own attorney, Trump, 66, flatly denied that he ginned up a plan to dangle false incentives to attract investors.

"Absolutely not," he said.

[email protected]

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(c)2013 the Chicago Tribune

Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services



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