Donald Trump took the stand briefly in his own defense at the defamation trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, telling the court he “wanted to defend myself, my family and frankly the presidency.”
The testimony comes after Trump was found liable for sexually abusing Carroll in May 2023.
Before taking the stand, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled the former president would be restricted on what he can speak about in testimony.
Trump was not allowed to deny he sexually assaulted Carroll, which he continues to do on television and on social media, since he was found liable in a civil lawsuit last year.
Trump’s defense attorney Alina Habba said her client’s testimony would be “very brief,” but also said she could not be “100% sure” of what Trump would say, NBC News reported.
Habba asked the former president if he stood by the testimony in his deposition, and if he denied Carroll’s rape allegations to defend himself.
Trump answered yes to both questions and called Carroll’s accusation a “false accusation — totally false,” but Judge Kaplan ordered the jury to ignore the added comment.
Trump’s entire testimony lasted only about three minutes, reporters in the courtroom said.