Donald Trump, who claimed on Thursday he was cutting his trip to Ireland short and flying back to New York “to confront” his accuser” E. Jean Carroll in the civil sexual battery and defamation trial, will not testify after missing a judge-imposed deadline of 5 p.m. Sunday.
While attorneys for Carroll and Trump rested their respective cases in the trial in Manhattan federal court on Thursday evening, District Judge Lewis Kaplan had left a window for Trump to testify.
The judge said he had ordered the precautionary measure in light of Trump’s public comments suggesting he would make an appearance in court before the trial ended.
During his visit to Ireland, Trump said he had decided to, “go back and confront this woman,” before adding: “It’s a disgrace but we have to do it, it’s a part of life. Because of that I have to leave Ireland and I have to leave Scotland where I have great properties, I have to leave early.”
However, the former president appears to have changed his mind about being cross-examined under oath.
Carroll alleges Trump raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s and then defamed her when he denied her claim, said she wasn’t his type and suggested she made up the story to boost sales of her book.
Closing arguments in the case are set to get underway Monday. The jury will likely get the case on Tuesday.
