NEW YORK — A federal judge threatened to kick Donald Trump out of court Wednesday after the former president made repeated comments within earshot of the jury hearing a civil defamation trial against him.
Trump muttered that the case is a “witch hunt,” among other similar comments, according to a lawyer for the writer E. Jean Carroll, who is suing Trump over derogatory comments he made about her while he was president.
The episode prompted a stern rebuke from U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who repeatedly tussled with Trump and his lawyers during a testy courtroom session Wednesday morning.
“Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited, and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which is what has been reported to me,” the judge said.
Kaplan then spoke directly to Trump, who was seated at the defense table. “Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial,” he said. “I understand you are probably very eager for me to do that.”
At that point, Trump threw up his hands, saying, “I would love it. I would love it.”
“I know you would. I know you would,” Kaplan replied. “You just can’t control yourself in this circumstance, apparently.”
Trump shot back: “You can’t either.”
Kaplan’s threat came after Carroll’s lawyers complained twice that Trump had muttered during Carroll’s testimony in ways they believed the jury could hear.
Carroll lawyer Shawn Crowley told the judge that Trump had said “it is a witch hunt” and “it really is a con job,” echoing comments he has previously made about the case. After jurors watched a 2023 video of Trump calling an earlier trial against Carroll a “witch hunt” and a “disgrace,” Trump said, “it’s true,” according to Crowley.
Kaplan, who has been a federal judge since 1994, also oversaw an earlier trial in a case brought by Carroll, who has accused Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. The jury in that case ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in damages after finding Trump sexually abused and defamed her. In the new trial, which began this week, Carroll is seeking at least $10 million in damages.
Trump never set foot in the courtroom during his first Carroll trial last year. But he attended the first two days of the current trial.
After a lunch break, one of Trump’s lawyers, Michael Madaio, asked Kaplan to recuse himself, saying Kaplan had immediately accepted the assertions of Crowley, whom Madaio noted was once a law clerk for Kaplan, and that Kaplan had displayed “general hostility” toward the defense.
Kaplan replied: “Denied.”
Trump’s agita came as he watched Carroll testify for hours about how Trump’s denigrating comments have affected her. After Carroll came forward with her rape allegation in 2019, Trump claimed he had never met her and suggested she was motivated by money.
On the witness stand, Carroll told the jury that Trump’s comments “ended the world that I had been living in.”
"Well, to have the president of the United States, one of the most powerful persons on earth, calling me a liar for three days and saying I’m a liar 26 times — I counted them — it ended the world that I had been living in,” she said. “And I entered a new world."
Though Carroll said she was once known as a writer, "now I’m known as a liar and a fraud and a whack job” as a result of Trump’s remarks.
Carroll’s lawyers also asked her about the thousands of insulting and threatening social media comments she received and has continued to receive in the wake of Trump’s verbal attacks.
Asked about derogatory messages about her appearance, Carroll replied: "It makes it hard for a girl to get up in the morning."
"I know I’m old, I know I’m 80, I know I’m not a pretty young woman, but it makes it tough to go on with the day,” she said.
Before the trial began, Kaplan ruled that Trump’s comments about Carroll while he was president were defamatory, so the only issue for the jury to decide is how much money Trump should pay in damages.
Trump has nonetheless continued to attack Carroll on social media, calling the case a “hoax” and hurling numerous other insults and allegations even as court was in session. On Wednesday, Carroll's lawyers even introduced one of Trump's posts from Tuesday into evidence to demonstrate Trump’s relentlessness.
Trump also repeatedly denigrated Kaplan on his social media account.
During cross examination, Trump attorney Alina Habba suggested Carroll had enjoyed the attention she received after she accused Trump of rape, questioning Carroll about multiple television appearances she made to promote a book in which she first made the claim.
Habba also asked Carroll about insulting messages she received in the five-hour window between when an excerpt of her book appeared online and when Trump issued his first comments denying her allegation, suggesting that such messages weren’t merely a consequence of Trump’s words.
And she questioned Carroll about interviews she gave in the wake of last year’s trial, suggesting Carroll reveled in the publicity.
“Once I spoke up, I wanted people to know that a woman can speak up and win a trial,” Carroll responded. “It was a major victory. I don't want to be quiet now. I’m 80. It’s not right to make women be quiet. It’s been going on for too long.”
Carroll’s testimony is expected to continue Thursday.