Donald Trump testifies on January 25, in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg/ReutersDonald Trump returned to a Manhattan federal courthouse on Thursday where he took the stand for what was ultimately less than five minutes — including multiple admonishments from Judge Lewis Kaplan — as he seeks to avoid a multimillion-dollar jury verdict against him in the civil defamation trial.
The trial centers on Trump’s 2019 comments about E. Jean Carroll, the writer who last year won a civil verdict over her claim Trump sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s and then defamed her when she first publicly accused him.
Carroll is seeking at least $10 million.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Friday morning and the jury of nine could have the case by lunchtime.
Persons:
Donald Trump, Jane Rosenberg, Reuters Donald Trump, Lewis Kaplan —, Jean Carroll, Trump, Carroll
Organizations:
Reuters
Locations:
Manhattan