Judge’s ruling shatters Trump’s identity as a 'master of the business world'

On Tuesday, September 26, New York Justice Arthur F. Engoron dealt a major blow to the Trump Organization when he ruled that former President Donald Trump had committed fraud by inflating the value of his real estate assets.

This was a civil ruling, not a criminal ruling. But in an article published on September 27, New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Alan Feuer emphasize that Engoron's ruling is incredibly damaging to Trump and his company because it goes "to the heart of the identity that made him a national figure and launched his political career."

"By effectively branding him a cheat," Haberman and Feuer explain, "the decision in the civil proceeding by Justice Arthur F. Engoron undermined Mr. Trump's relentlessly promoted narrative of himself as a master of the business world — the persona that he used to enmesh himself in the fabric of popular culture and that eventually gave him the stature and resources to reach the White House."

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The reporters note that Trump is facing four criminal indictments, none of which have hurt his popularity among his hardcore base. And it remains to be seen if "the effect of Justice Engoron's ruling is any different."

Haberman and Feuer add, however, that Engoron's "finding imperils both Mr. Trump's public image and his business empire."

"The former president now faces not only the prospect of having to pay $250 million in damages," they observe, "but he could also lose properties like Trump Tower that are inextricably linked to his brand."

READ MORE: Trump Organization gets 'corporate death penalty' after 'persistent fraud': legal experts

Read the full New York Times article at this link (subscription required).