Sketch by Donald Trump of the Empire State Building fetches $16,000 at auction

A sketch of New York's iconic Empire State Building by now-US President Donald Trump has fetched $16,000 (£12,000) at auction in California on Thursday, 19 October.

The rendition was put under the hammer as part of Julien's Actions' Street, Contemporary and Celebrity Art exhibit and a portion of the sale is set to go to WHDD in Sharon, Connecticut, the country's smallest public radio station.

The 12"x9" sketch was originally drawn by Trump in the 90s at his Mar-a-Lago resort for a charity auction in Palm Beach County, Florida. Hand drawn in black marker on paper and embellished with Trump's signature, the drawing was originally sold for only $100 (£75).

However presidential, the sketch could not quite reach the heights of other pieces at the auction. Banksy's 'Drill Rat' sold for $57,600 (£43,600) and his sheet of uncut ten pound notes featuring the face of Princess Diana instead of the queen, named 'Uncut Sheet Di-Faced Tenners', sold for $31,250 (£23,600).

Trump at one time attempted to bring the Empire State Building into his portfolio of properties before relenting his claim to the title after long legal troubles, the New York Times reported. Julien's Auction said the drawing "symbolized Trump's ascent as a real estate mogul".

The president's dalliance with arthouse fame comes at the same time as other, less enjoyable art-world headlines. While Trump has insisted that a version of French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Two Sisters (On the Terrace)' hanging in his Trump Tower penthouse is the real deal, the Art Institute of Chicago disagrees, saying the original is hanging on their gallery walls.