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Donald Trump in Court for Second Defamation Trial After Iowa Victory
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, E. Jean Carroll and their lawyers stand for the jury as they attend jury selection in the second civil trial after Carroll accused Trump of raping her decades ago, at Manhattan Federal Court in New York City, U.S., January 16, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. Image: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
Fresh off a campaign victory in Iowa, former US President Donald Trump sat in a New York courtroom on Tuesday to defend himself for a second time against charges that he defamed writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of raping her decades ago.
Trump watched from the defendant’s table as a nine-person jury was chosen for a civil case that will put allegations of misconduct back in the headlines while he pursues the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Opening arguments were expected later in the afternoon.
Trump sat two tables behind Carroll, who is accusing Trump of defaming her in 2019 by denying he had attacked her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan. Carroll, 80, is seeking at least $10 million in damages.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan told prospective jurors they would only have to consider how much Trump should pay Carroll in damages, not whether the alleged assault took place or whether Trump lied about it afterward. He said the trial is expected to last three to five days.
Trump, 77, has said he wants to testify at the civil trial.
He could spend much of this year shuttling between campaign rallies and courtrooms, as he seeks to win the Republican presidential nomination for 2024.
He won the first state contest in Iowa on Monday by a wide margin, and opinion polls show him leading in the next contest in New Hampshire a week from today.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in four criminal cases that could potentially land him in prison before the November presidential election, including two that accuse him of trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He also is a defendant in at least two other civil cases.
Trump has cast himself as the victim of political persecution. On Tuesday, he said Kaplan should dismiss the case.
“Judge Kaplan should put this whole corrupt, Crooked Joe Biden-directed Election Interference attack on me immediately to rest,” he posted on social media. “He should do it for America.”
Trump‘s high profile was apparent as prospective jurors were screened for the case. Many acknowledged they were familiar with Trump‘s various legal troubles, though none said they knew the details of the first defamation trial.
Many said they had backed Democratic candidates in previous elections, reflecting the New York City area’s left-leaning tilt, and one said she had volunteered for Biden’s 2020 campaign.
Two others said they believed Trump‘s false claims that the election had been stolen from him. One said she used to work for his daughter Ivanka. They were not chosen for the jury.
Jurors’ identities are being kept confidential.
Trump has already lost one defamation case against Carroll.
A jury last May ordered Trump to pay the former Elle magazine columnist $5 million for having sexually abused her during the encounter, and defaming her in 2022 by denying that it happened. Trump skipped that trial.
Kaplan, who has overseen both cases, has barred Trump from arguing that he did not defame or sexually assault Carroll or that she made up her account.
In both cases, Trump has said he did not know Carroll and that she invented their encounter to sell her memoir.
Trump is appealing the $5 million award, and could appeal any award at the second trial. Appeals could take years.
In recent weeks, Trump has escalated his attacks on Carroll, including a false accusation on social media this weekend that she did not know the decade of their encounter.
He also called Kaplan “terrible, biased, irrationally angry,” echoing attacks he has made on judges overseeing some of his other cases.
Trump may face an uphill fight to escape significant additional damages because of Kaplan’s pre-trial rulings.
These include banning Trump from suggesting he did not rape Carroll, as New York’s penal law defines the term, because the first jury did not find that Trump committed rape.
Kaplan has ruled that because Trump used his fingers in the assault, Carroll’s rape claim was “substantially true.”
Trump also cannot discuss DNA evidence or Carroll’s sexual activities, or suggest that Democrats are bankrolling her case. Carroll is a Democrat.
And as at the first trial, jurors will be able to see the 2005 “Access Hollywood” video where Trump graphically described the ability of famous people like himself to have sexual relations with beautiful women.
Trump did not retract his comments when asked about them in a 2022 deposition. Kaplan has said the video could offer “useful insight into Mr. Trump‘s state of mind” toward Carroll.
Trump lawyer Alina Habba on Sunday assured Kaplan that he was “well aware” of the court’s rulings “and the strict confines placed on his testimony.”
The post Donald Trump in Court for Second Defamation Trial After Iowa Victory first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Announces India and Pakistan ‘Agreed to a Full and Immediate Ceasefire’
US President Donald Trump attends the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, April 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
i24 News – US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire. “Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence,” he posted on social media. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed the ceasefire, saying Saudi Arabia and Turkey also played an important role in facilitating the deal.
The ceasefire follows weeks of clashes and cross-border missile and drone strikes triggered by a gun massacre of Indian tourists last month.
New Delhi has blamed jihadists from the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated terrorist organization. Pakistan denies the charge.
Dozens of civilians have been killed on both sides.
The post Trump Announces India and Pakistan ‘Agreed to a Full and Immediate Ceasefire’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Latest Columbia Scandal Sees Over 65 Students Suspended, Including Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Daughter
Pro-Palestinian protesters are detained by NYPD after taking part in a demonstration at Butler Library on the Columbia University campus in New York, U.S., May 7, 2025. REUTERS/Dana Edwards
i24 News – In the latest antisemitism scandal at the prestigious New York institution, Columbia University suspended dozens of students and barred from campus alumni and others who took part in a chaotic and violent anti-Israel incident inside the school’s main library earlier in the week.
On May 7, the mask-clad mob forced its way into the library, injuring two public safety officers in the process. Once inside, they vandalized property, adorning the premises with Palestinian flags, scrawling “Columbia will burn” on a glass case, and declaring the library a “liberated zone.”
Some 75 protesters were arrested after refusing to comply with police directives, including Ramona Sarsgaard, daughter of Hollywood A-lister Maggie Gyllenhaal and actor Peter Sarsgaard.
The Ivy League university in Manhattan declined to say how long the disciplinary measures would be in place, saying only that the decisions are pending further investigation.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said his office will review the visa status of those who participated in the library takeover for possible deportation.
The post Latest Columbia Scandal Sees Over 65 Students Suspended, Including Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Daughter first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US, Iran to Hold 4th Round of Nuclear Talks on Eve of Trump’s Gulf Tour
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on before a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – The United States and Iran will hold a fourth round of nuclear talks Sunday in Oman, officials said, just ahead of a visit to the region by President Donald Trump.
Trump, who will visit three other Gulf Arab monarchies next week, has voiced hope for reaching a deal with Tehran to curb its nuclear program that would avert an Israeli military strike on Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities that could ignite a wider war. He has refused, however, to rule out military action in the event the talks come to naught.
Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said that Oman, the mediator in the talks, had proposed Sunday as the date and both sides accepted it.
“Negotiations are moving ahead and naturally, the more we advance, the more consultations we have, and the more time the delegations need to examine the issues,” he was quoted as saying by regime media. “But what’s important is that we are moving forward so that we gradually get into the details.”
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s personal friend serving as his globe-trotting negotiator, will take part in the talks.
American and Iranian representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries’ decades of enmity.
However the two sides are not believed to have thrashed out the all-important technical details, and basic questions remain.
The post US, Iran to Hold 4th Round of Nuclear Talks on Eve of Trump’s Gulf Tour first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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