(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump attended his defamation damages trial Tuesday in New York City. The trial will determine how much Trump will have to pay to E. Jean Carroll, whom a civil jury found Trump liable of sexually abusing in the 1990s.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has already found Trump liable for defaming Carroll in remarks he made as president in 2019 mocking her sexual assault allegation.
Now, the nine-person jury’s task will be to decide how much money she should receive in damages.
Carroll is seeking $10 million from Trump for harming her reputation as well as other punitive damages.
In a Truth Social post Tuesday, as Trump was sitting in the courtroom, he blasted Carroll’s claims as “fabricated lies and political shenanigans” and that the judge has “been unable to see clearly because of his absolute hatred of Donald J. Trump (ME!).”
Trump has said he plans to testify in his own defense, standing firm in his claim he has no idea who Carroll is, calling her a “wack job” and a liar among other insults.
Trump did not attend the previous trial in the case last May when a jury found he had sexually abused Carroll in the 1990s and defamed her in 2022, awarding her $5 million in damages. In light of that verdict, Kaplan told prospective jurors the trial beginning Tuesday would focus only on how much money, if any, Trump must pay Carroll for comments he made about her while president in 2019.
Trump is appealing the decision and has not paid any damages so far.
For purposes of the new trial, it had already been determined that Trump “did sexually assault Ms. Carroll,” Kaplan said, prompting Trump to shake his head from side to side.
Trump was sitting at the defense table with his lawyers, about 12 feet from Carroll and her legal team. They didn’t appear to speak or make eye contact.
Trump has increasingly made his courtroom travails — including four criminal cases — part of his run to retake the White House, positioning himself as a victim of partisan lawyers, judges and prosecutors and capitalizing on news coverage that accompanies his court visits.
On Monday, the former president took a commanding victory in the Iowa caucuses, beating out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley with wide margins. He will soon return to the campaign trail ahead of the New Hampshire primaries.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
