The eldest son of former President Donald Trump has asserted that he was not involved in preparing the financial statements central to a civil fraud trial that poses a threat to the family's real estate empire.

Donald Trump Jr, aged 45, appeared at ease in the court in New York City, making jokes and denying any wrongdoing.

His siblings, Ivanka and Eric Trump are scheduled to provide their testimony in the following days.

The judge has already determined that the Trump Organization overstated its wealth and falsified business records.

This civil trial aims to establish the appropriate penalties. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, seeks a $250 million fine and a prohibition on the former president conducting business in his home state.

Donald Trump Jr is the first of the Trump children to testify in this case. Earlier this week, he appeared on the conservative Newsmax network and referred to the trial as a "sham" in a "kangaroo court."

He and Eric Trump are co-defendants in the case, alongside their father. Both brothers hold positions as executive vice presidents at the Trump Organization.

Dressed in a blue suit with a vibrant pink tie, Mr. Trump Jr's testimony lasted slightly over an hour and will continue on Thursday.

At the beginning of his testimony, he discussed Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), the standardized practices and guidelines used by businesses to ensure accurate maintenance of financial records.

Mr. Trump Jr mentioned that he had limited familiarity with GAAP, primarily based on his business studies during his time at university.

Pressed by state attorney Colleen Faherty on his understanding of the subject, he drew chuckles in court as he responded: "I have no understanding."

"I leave it to my accountants," Mr Trump Jr said.

At another point, Mr Trump Jr told the judge he was sorry for speaking too quickly for the court stenographer to keep up.

"I apologize, Your Honour, I moved to Florida, but I kept the New York pace," he joked.

He told the court that he had done "anything and everything" during his time working for the family business. He is not an accountant.

Mr Trump Jr testified that his role in the company grew after his father, the Republican president, won the White House.

"We stopped reporting to my father on decisions in the business," he said.

Both Trump brothers became trustees of the company after his father took office in 2017, to avoid conflict-of-interest laws.

When asked on Wednesday whether he had signed off his father's "statement of financial condition", Mr. Trump Jr replied: "Not that I can recall."

The afternoon in court proved mostly calm, aside from a few fiery exchanges between Mr Trump's lawyers and the New York attorney general's team near the end of questioning.

Prosecutors began to press Mr Trump Jr on whether he was involved in preparing financial statements for the company.

He denied having been involved, saying he relied on others to "put together a document of this nature".

"The accountants worked on it. That's what we paid them for," he said.

Mr Trump Jr told the court the task belonged to longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, who was also charged in this case and pleaded guilty last year to tax crimes.

"I had an obligation to listen to the people with intimate knowledge of those things," he said, adding that he "relied" on Weisselberg and his accounting team.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron, a Democrat, is presiding over the trial and has already found Mr Trump liable for inflating his assets to secure favorable loans.

Hours before his son took the stand, Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social account: "Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!"

The judge last week fined the former president a total of $15,000 for twice breaching a gag order over comments he made about a court clerk.

Ivanka Trump was initially listed as a co-defendant in the case before she was removed from the docket and compelled to testify as a witness.

On Wednesday, lawyers for Ms Trump appealed against the order to testify. She is expected to take the stand on 8 November.

The former president, who is the frontrunner to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2024, is himself expected to testify on Monday.

He appeared in court last week to watch the testimony of his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who told the court one of his responsibilities at the Trump Organization was to "reverse engineer" assets to increase their value based on a number "arbitrarily elected" by Mr Trump.

Mr Trump is also facing four criminal prosecutions, including cases in Georgia and Washington DC in which he is accused of seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

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