When saddled with $2 million in debt to a lawyer, former President Donald Trump attempted to pony up with a horse, according to a new book.
But the lawyer demanded Trump get off his high horse and break out actual cash, New York Times reporter David Enrich writes in Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald Trump and the Corruption of Justice, previewed by the Guardian.
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“After a while, the lawyer lost patience, and he showed up, unannounced, at Trump Tower. Someone sent him up to Trump’s office. Trump was initially pleased to see him — he didn’t betray any sense of sheepishness — but the lawyer was steaming,” the book says, per the outlet. “’I’m incredibly disappointed,’ he scolded Trump. ‘There’s no reason you haven’t paid us.’”
The book did not identify the lawyer by name but described him as “a lawyer at a white-shoe firm.” He had done unspecified legal work for Trump in the 1990s and eventually grew tired of not being paid.
“Trump made some apologetic noises. Then he said: ‘I’m not going to pay your bill. I’m going to give you something more valuable.’ What on earth is he talking about? the lawyer wondered. ‘I have a stallion,’ Trump continued. ‘It’s worth $5m.’ Trump rummaged around in a filing cabinet and pulled out what he said was a deed to a horse. He handed it to the lawyer,” the book continues.
“This isn’t the 1800s. You can’t pay me with a horse,” the lawyer shot back, “once he regained the capacity for speech,” per the book. He also threatened to sue Trump.
Eventually, Trump ponied up “at least a portion of what he owed,” according to Enrich, who noted that Trump cultivated a “reputation for short-changing” his lawyers and others with whom he conducted business.
The book is slated for release next week.
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Trump has ruffled the feathers of lawyers who did work for him in the past, including Michael Cohen, who has since turned on his onetime boss. Remarks Cohen made before Congress in 2019 sparked a civil inquiry led by New York Attorney General Letitia James into Trump’s business practices.
Recently, the Republican National Committee warned it would cease footing the bill for Trump’s legal fees if he declares a 2024 bid for the presidency.
