Δ

Thanks for contacting us. We’ve received your submission.

Donald Trump showed up at a Lower Manhattan courthouse Thursday morning to sit in on the testimony of an accounting expert in the civil fraud trial that threatens the former president’s real estate empire.

Eli Bartov, a professor of accounting at New York University, is “one of the great experts in the country,” Trump, 77, told reporters as he arrived at Manhattan Supreme Court, adding he hoped “you will be able to listen to him.”

The former president delivered a roughly three-minute rant attacking the “very corrupt” trial, the judge and repeating his usual talking point that the case is a “witch hunt” before entering the courtroom around 10 a.m.

Bartov — the last defense witness before Trump himself takes the stand Monday — has countered the claims that the Republican committed fraud by pumping up the worth of his assets, arguing that such valuations are “subjective.”

Trump was set to remain at the 60 Centre St. courthouse at least until the lunch break to observe as his defense attorneys question Bartov.

The 2024 GOP presidential front-runner has said he’ll return to court Monday to close out the defense case with his own testimony.

Trump hasn’t attended the trial since Nov. 6, when he testified as the last witness in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million fraud case against him.

The 45th president has attended seven of the 40 days of the proceedings so far and is not required to be present in court like he would be in a criminal case.

He’s taken nearly every opportunity in front of media cameras at the courthouse to attack the AG and Justice Arthur Engoron, who is deciding the non-jury trial.

But on Thursday and Monday, the real estate tycoon won’t be allowed to go after Engoron’s chief law clerk, Allison Greenfield, since a limited gag order, barring Trump and his lawyers from speaking about the judge’s staff, was reinstated last week by an appeals court.

Trump — who has repeatedly claimed that Greenfield is co-judging alongside Engoron — is seeking to bring the appeal to the highest court in the state.

But on Thursday and Monday, the real estate tycoon won’t be allowed to go after Engoron’s chief law clerk, Allison Greenfield, since a limited gag order, barring Trump and his lawyers from speaking about the judge’s staff, was reinstated last week by an appeals court.

He has argued that the gag order is a violation of his right to free speech, which he says is all the more important as he’s on the campaign trail.

The issue likely won’t be resolved before he’s done testifying.

On Thursday, a five-judge appeals panel ruled to keep in place a pause on the immediate cancellation of Trump’s business licenses, which Engoron had ordered on the eve of the trial in late September.

The order will be paused until after Engoron renders his final verdict in the trial, expected for early next year.

James filed suit last year against Trump, his two eldest sons, daughter Ivanka, the family real estate company, and others, claiming that Trump exaggerated his net worth by billions a year on annual financial statements to get an edge on loan and insurance applications.

Trump has denied the AG’s allegations and repeatedly claimed he’s the victim of a political witch hunt.

Ivanka, 42, was dismissed as a defendant from the case earlier this year when an appeals court found that the claims against her fell outside the statute of limitations.