Donald Trump Suddenly Leaves Courtroom

Former President Donald Trump suddenly left the courtroom in Manhattan where the defamation trial against him was wrapping up Friday morning.

While columnist E. Jean Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, was making her closing arguments in the civil case, Trump got up from his seat up front and left the room entirely, prompting Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is not related to Carroll's lawyer, to ask the court reporter to make a note of his departure.

"Excuse me, the record will reflect that Mr. Trump just rose and walked out of the courtroom," the judge interrupted.

Trump's lawyer Alina Habba has been contacted by email for comment.

It is unclear why Trump left the room. Prior to his exit, Carroll's lawyer was criticizing Trump over his failure to respect the jury verdict from last spring that ruled he was liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a department store dressing room sometime in the 1990s. The current trial is determining how much money the former president must pay Carroll for statements claiming that she fabricated her claims.

Carroll is seeking at least $10 million in compensatory damages for injury to her reputation, in addition to an unspecified amount in punitive damages to punish Trump and deter him from continuing to do so.

"Typically, when someone is found liable for defamation, they stop making those statements, even if they don't like the jury's verdict. Even if you don't like the jury's decision, you follow it. Those are the rules," Roberta Kaplan told the court, adding that Trump didn't respect the earlier verdict, "Not even for 24 hours.

"This trial is also about something much more profound," Roberta Kaplan said. "Whether the rules that apply to everyone else—to you, to me, to Ms. Carroll—whether they also apply to Donald Trump."

Trump took the stand on Thursday, delivering brief testimony during which he said he made the statements about Carroll "to defend myself, my family and frankly the presidency." The judge ordered the comment to be stricken from the record because it wasn't responsive to the question being posed to Trump.

Trump did not attend last year's trial and backed out of testifying. However, he has attended almost every day of the second trial.

On Thursday, the former president once again said Carroll lied about the sexual assault, saying in a video posted to Truth Social, "I don't even know who this woman is—I have no idea who she is, or where she came from. This is another scam. It's a political witch hunt."

While the former president has continued to deny Carroll's allegations, saying that he considers it "a false accusation" even from the stand this week, Judge Kaplan instructed the jury to ignore the claims, telling jurors, "regardless of what he says today, it did occur, and that is the law."

The jury is tasked only with determining how much Trump should pay Carroll. They are not being asked to confirm the earlier verdict or judge the claims from Trump or Carroll.

Update 1/25/24, 10:53 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.

Update 1/26/24, 11:52 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.