Donald Trump testifies for less than 3 minutes in defamation trial and is rebuked by judge

Former President Donald Trump breaks judge's rules in defamation trial, claims innocence, and criticizes the proceedings.

Former President Donald Trump testified for under three minutes, but he still broke a judge's rules on what he could tell a jury about writer E. Jean Carroll's sexual assault and defamation allegations, and he left the courtroom on January 25 bristling to the spectators: “This is not America.”

Testifying in his defence in the defamation trial, Mr. Trump didn't look at the jury during his short, heavily negotiated stint on the witness stand. Because of the complex legal context of the case, the judge limited his lawyers to ask a handful of short questions, each of which could be answered yes or no — such as whether he had made negative statements in response to an accusation and didn't intend anyone to harm Ms. Carroll.

But Mr. Trump nudged past those limits. “She said something that I considered to be a false accusation,” he said, later adding: “I just wanted to defend myself, my family and, frankly, the presidency.”

After Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told jurors to disregard those remarks, Mr. Trump rolled his eyes as he stepped down from the witness stand. The former president and current Republican front-runner left the courtroom during a break soon after, shaking his head and declaring to spectators — three times — that “this is not America."

Ms. Carroll looked on throughout from the plaintiff's table. The longtime advice columnist alleges that Mr. Trump attacked her in 1996, then defamed her by calling her a liar when she went public with her story in a 2019 memoir.

While Mr. Trump has said a lot about her to the court of public opinion, on Jan. 25 marked the first time he directly addressed a jury about her claims. However, jurors also heard parts of a 2022 deposition — a term for out-of-court questioning under oath — in which Mr. Trump vehemently denied Ms. Carroll's allegations, calling her “sick” and a “whack job.” He told jurors on Jan. 25 that he stood by that deposition, “100%."