New York, New York - Donald Trump on Monday turned his court appearance into a circus as he took the stand for the first time in the New York civil fraud case threatening his real estate empire.

The former president, dressed in a dark blue suit with an American flag on his lapel, denounced what he called a "crazy trial" brought by Democrats "coming after me from 15 different sides."

Clashing with Judge Arthur Engoron and launching verbal attacks at New York Attorney General Letitia James, he dismissed allegations that his firm's financial statements were fraudulent, describing them as "very conservative."

"They were not really documents that the banks paid much attention to," he said. "The banks were paid off."

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The former president also said the value of the "Trump brand" was not always taken into account in the valuations of his assets.

"I became president because of my brand," he said.

Speaking to reporters after his testimony, Trump said the case "should have never been brought."

"The fraud was on behalf of the court," he said. "The court was the fraudster in this case."

James, the attorney general, told reporters the former president had "consistently misrepresented and inflated the value of his assets," and shrugged off Trump's personal attacks on her.

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"The numbers don't lie," James said. "I will not be bullied. I will not be harassed. This case will go on. Justice will prevail."

James said the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, would testify on Wednesday. She left the Trump Organization in 2017 to become a White House advisor and is not a co-defendant in the case.

Trump's testimony followed that of his sons Don Jr. and Eric, who took the stand last week and blamed accountants for any inaccuracies in the company's financial statements.