‘This is Russia, this is China’: Trump slams ‘criminal’ judge’s ruling in New York civil case

Trump spoke to reporters outside his Mar-A-Lago residence in West Palm Beach, Florida, comparing Judge Engoron's ruling to communist China and Russia and blaming President Biden for being the mastermind behind it all.

"A crooked New York State Judge just ruled that I have to pay a fine of 355 million for having built the perfect company," said Trump. "It all comes down to Biden. It's a witch hunt against his political opponent, the likes of which our country has never seen before."

The GOP frontrunner slammed Engoron for claiming that his Mar-A-Lago estate is worth only $18 million, saying that "it's worth anywhere from 50 to 100 times that amount."

Trump told reporters that Engoron "ruled against me before he even got the case. He said I was guilty. He didn't know what I was guilty of before he even got the case."

The case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James had been seeking $370 million in damages from the former president. James argued in the case that Trump inflated the value of his business entities in the city with real estate pricing and alleged he engaged in a pattern of "repeated and persistent fraud."

The ruling also barred Trump from running business in New York for 3 years.

The former president said that "there was no fraud" and explained that banking testified that they "all got their money" and insisted that Trump is a "great customer."

"They testified beautifully," said Trump. "And the judge does that. He's just a corrupt person. And we knew that from the beginning. We knew it right from the beginning."

Trump went on to claim that the case is nothing other than "election interference."

"They want me out," said Trump. they want me out. "Well, let's see if we can get them out. These are radical left democrats, they're lunatics, and it's election interference."

"New York State is gone. People are moving out of New York State," Trump continued. "And because of this, they're gonna move out at a much faster rate. They used a statute, it's a consumer fraud statute, that's never been used for a thing like this before. They used it on me because I'm running for president, I'm beating Biden by a lot. We're beating him. Not only the Republicans, we're beating Biden by a lot."

"If I weren't running, none of this stuff would have ever happened. None of these lawsuits would have ever happened. Nothing! I would have had a nice life, but I enjoy this life for a different reason," said Trump. "We're going to make America great again. These are corrupt people, these are people that shouldn't be allowed to do the things they do. And they're using this as weaponization against a political opponent who's up a lot in the polls."

"It's all headed up by Biden who's destroying our country. So this is Russia. This is China. This is what you've been reading about all your lives. And it's happening right here in our country," Trump concluded.