Ivanka Trump has frustrated the prosecutor at her father’s fraud trial with her repeated response of “I don’t recall” to questions about Donald Trump’s real estate deals.

The former US president’s daughter testified on Thursday morning (AEDT) in the New York civil fraud trial that threatens Trump’s business empire.

Trump is accused of inflating the value of his properties by more than $US2 billion ($3.1 billion) to secure favourable loans.

Ivanka took to the witness stand for two hours. Unlike her father, who has repeatedly antagonised the courtroom, she smiled and was in good humour.

Wide-ranging questioning included her knowledge of a discrepancy in the value of a penthouse she leased in Trump Park Avenue, which Trump’s papers valued at $US20.8 million.

Ivanka had a purchase option on it for $US8.5 million.

At one point, prosecutor Lou Solomon said he was agitated that Ivanka could not seem to “recall” anything specific and “she has not answered one of my questions”.

Outside court, Attorney General Letitia James told media Ivanka had sought to “distance herself” from the Trump Organisation and its inner workings “but she was very much involved”.

Ivanka Trump at the New York State Supreme Court. Photo: Getty

Like her brothers Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, who testified last week, Ivanka sought to distance herself from the questionable valuation methods that have already been ruled fraudulent by the judge overseeing the trial.

Donald Trump, by contrast, has acknowledged on the witness stand that some of the estimates of golf courses, office towers and other company assets were inaccurate but also said they may have undervalued some of his properties.

The lawsuit brought by James, a Democrat, accuses Trump and his family businesses of manipulating real estate asset values to dupe lenders and insurers and embellish the former president’s reputation as a successful businessman.

Unlike her siblings and father, Ivanka Trump is not a defendant.

As a top executive at the Trump Organisation between 2011 and 2017, Ivanka said she focused on redeveloping the Doral golf course in Florida and the Old Post Office property in Washington DC.

At the trial, she was shown a 2011 email in which she acknowledged that a requirement by lender Deutsche Bank that her father maintain a net worth of at least $US3 billion ($4.7 billion) was a problem but encouraged company officials to approve it anyway.

“We wanted to get a great rate and the only way to get proceeds/term and principal where we want them is to guarantee the deal,” she wrote to a Trump Organisation lawyer.

On the witness stand, Ivanka said she favoured the deal but did not recall specific terms.

“I felt generally that the deal terms with Deutsche Bank for Doral were positive,” she said.

Trump, who leads his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination despite a maelstrom of legal troubles, has denied wrongdoing and accused James and Justice Arthur Engoron of political bias and “election interference”.

He repeated those claims on social media late on Tuesday, saying it was “Sad!” that Ivanka was being forced to testify.

During defiant and meandering testimony on Monday, Donald Trump acknowledged that valuations for his properties were not always accurate but said the errors were not relevant to the financial institutions that used them to price deals.

Donald Jr and Eric Trump testified last week that the financial documents at the heart of the case were not their responsibility. However, emails and other documents showed they may have been more involved than their testimony indicated.

Ivanka joined her father during his 2017-2021 term in the White House, leaving her brothers in charge of the company during that time.

James said Ivanka nevertheless was involved in manipulating property values.

“She will attempt today to distance herself from the company but unfortunately the facts will reveal that in fact she was very much involved,” James said on the courthouse steps.

In a ruling that found Trump, his adult sons and 10 of his companies liable for fraud, Engoron described in scathing terms how the defendants made up valuations.

His ruling could strip Trump’s control of some of his best known properties, although that order is on hold during appeal.

James is seeking $US250 million in fines as well as restrictions that would prevent Trump and his adult sons from doing business in New York.

In addition to this case, Trump is a defendant in four separate criminal cases, including two stemming from his attempts to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.

Nevertheless, opinion polls show he holds a commanding lead over Republican rivals to face President Joe Biden next year.

-with AAP