Former President Donald Trump is facing a second defamation trial in New York City this week, just hours after he claimed victory in the Iowa caucuses.
The trial will determine whether he will have to pay additional damages to writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in the 1990s and sued him for defaming her when he denied her allegations.
Trump arrived at the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan on Tuesday morning, accompanied by his lawyers and security personnel. He did not speak to reporters or answer any questions. He wore a dark suit, a red tie, and a face mask with the slogan “Make America Great Again”.
The trial is expected to last about a week and could overlap with the New Hampshire primary, scheduled for next Tuesday. Trump has said that he plans to attend the trial at some point, but has not indicated when. He did not attend the first trial, held at the same courthouse last year, where a jury found him liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store and defaming her in a 2022 social media post.
In that post, Trump called Carroll’s allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and said “This woman is not my type!” He also claimed that he had never met her, despite a photo showing them together at a party in 1987. Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, said that Trump attacked her in late 1995 or early 1996, when they ran into each other at the Bergdorf Goodman store. She said that he pushed her against a wall, pulled down her tights, and raped her.
The jury awarded Carroll $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages, finding that Trump acted with “actual malice” and “reckless disregard” for the truth. Carroll said that she was “overjoyed” by the verdict and that she hoped it would encourage other women to come forward with their stories of sexual abuse by powerful men.
Trump appealed the verdict, arguing that he was immune from the lawsuit because he made the statements while he was president and that they were protected by the First Amendment. He also asked the court to dismiss the case or order a new trial, claiming that the jury was biased and that the evidence was insufficient. The appeals court rejected his arguments and upheld the verdict in December 2023.
The second trial will focus on whether Trump owes Carroll any more money for defaming her. Carroll’s lawyers have asked the court to award her $25 million in additional damages, arguing that Trump’s statements caused her “severe emotional distress, humiliation, anger, and loss of reputation”. They also want the court to order Trump to retract his statements and apologize to Carroll publicly.
Trump’s lawyers have opposed Carroll’s request, saying that the jury’s award was already “excessive and unreasonable” and that there was no evidence that Carroll suffered any actual harm from Trump’s statements. They also said that Trump had a right to express his opinion and that Carroll was seeking to “silence and punish” him for his political views.
The trial is expected to feature testimony from both parties, as well as expert witnesses and journalists who covered the case. The judge has also ordered Trump to provide a DNA sample, which Carroll’s lawyers hope to match with a dress that she said she wore on the day of the alleged assault and never washed. Trump has resisted giving the sample, calling it a “fishing expedition” and a “harassment tactic”.
The trial is one of several legal challenges that Trump is facing, including a criminal investigation into his business dealings in New York and a civil lawsuit by two Capitol police officers who accused him of inciting the January 6 insurrection. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has said that he is the victim of a “witch hunt” by his political enemies.
