Kevin O’Leary clashed vehemently with CNN anchor Laura Coates over a New York judge’s ruling against Donald Trump, which imposed a $450 million bond and seized some of his assets.
O’Leary argued the action went too far and sent a poor message to investors that their property rights would not be protected in New York or America.
He drew parallels to authoritarian countries like Venezuela and Cuba, questioning how this would affect business confidence.
O’Leary said the case was no longer about Trump but the reputation of New York and the US legal system.
“I don’t think this case is about Trump anymore. I think this case is about New York. It’s about the American brand. It’s about what we promised the world in terms of fairness and justice and investing capital in a country that’s built the largest economy on earth,” O’Leary said.
“Forget about Trump. Nothing to do with Trump. You think this is good for business in New York? You think this is good for business in America?” he said.
“To take a law that we use to protect people against buying refrigerators at an overpriced value decades ago and apply it against an individual and then talk about seizing assets like in Cuba. This is a very, very, very bad look for New York and everybody around the world is watching this,” he said.
“And let’s make a penalty of half a billion dollars against a crime, apparently, where no monies were lost. Great message for New York, great message for America. Bring your capital because we’ll protect your property,” he added.
The debate grew heated as both interrupted each other, with O’Leary continuing to press that penalizing a developer over a disputed property valuation could chill investment and set a poor precedent.
“I have a wonderful voice and it won’t be talked over,” Coates said.
“When you get a developer that builds a building and he says it’s worth $400 million and he wants to borrow $200 million from a bank, which happens every day, everywhere on earth, including every American city,” O’Leary said previously.
“Let’s penalize all the developers across America. They’ve all done the same thing.”
Meanwhile, Trump now faces potentially losing valuable properties if unable to settle the $355 million civil fraud fine from the New York lawsuit targeting his family business.
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