Billionaire CEO, real estate investor on impact of Trump verdict: ‘Nobody wants to do business’ in NYC

Prominent business executives have warned that more New York enterprises and their leaders may fall victim to “no rule of law” in the wake of Donald Trump’s guilty verdict.

“If they can do this to a business person like Donald Trump, they could do it to anybody in New York and a lot of businesses. A lot of people are concerned that there is no rule of law,” billionaire CEO John Catsimatidis said on “Mornings with Maria” Friday.

“If they can do this to Donald Trump, a former president, regardless of how you feel about the politics, if they can do this to a former president, what can they do to Grant Cardone? What can they do to any other businessman?” the Cardone Capital founder also chimed in Friday on “Varney & Co.“

“The city was shocked. The country was shocked. The world was shocked, and it was just mind-boggling. People texted me that they just got home and their wives were crying. We have to bring back the rule of law,” Catsimatidis added in reaction.

BUSINESS LEADERS SPEAK OUT ABOUT TRUMP GUILTY VERDICT, WITH ONE IMMEDIATELY DONATING $300K

On Thursday, former President Trump was found guilty on all counts in his historic and unprecedented criminal trial, making him the first former president of the United States to be convicted of a crime.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, though Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Trump faces a maximum sentence of 136 years total, as each count carries a maximum prison sentence of 4 years. Additionally, trial attorney Mercedes Colwin reported that the NY v. Trump case carried an estimated taxpayer cost of $2 million over six weeks, with $50,000 per day being spent on safety precautions.

Cardone recently pulled his business out of the Empire State and cautioned that Trump’s legal troubles – including a previous $355 million fine in a New York civil fraud case this past February – would “wreak financial havoc” on the city.

“I have 15,000 investors with me at Cardone Capital. We’ve raised $1.3 billion. If I went to them today and said, ‘I want to invest in New York City,’ they would not give me money to do that,” the investor argued.

“That’s one of the greatest cities on planet Earth. And nobody wants to go there and do business,” Cardone continued. “I blame the legal system. Clearly, the political system has been weaponized.”

After the verdict was read Thursday, Catsimatidis, who’s the chairman and CEO of Red Apple Group and United Refining company, allegedly attended a private dinner with Trump and 15 others. The CEO claimed the 45th president appeared to be in “good spirits” despite the conviction.

“He went around, and I asked about who the next vice president should be. Everybody gave him advice,” Catsimatidis detailed. “The one advice that has resonated amongst the friends that I told it to, I said, not only should you pick the right vice president, you should announce your entire Cabinet. Something that’s never been done before. And run as a team. Because we’ve got to take back America.”

“We have to change the world. And President Trump is the only one that has the courage, actually, to make a difference in the world,” he added. “And that message has to go through.”

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In response to the guilty verdict, Cardone claimed his company has taken $500 million they planned to invest in New York and reallocated the capital into Florida real estate investments.

“You just have too many other risks that, as a fiduciary of other people’s money, I can’t raise the rents, I can’t evict, I cannot predict the taxes,” Cardone said. “As great a city as New York City is, I need stability in the marketplace. And right now you have problems picking up the trash.”

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Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.