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A day before the primary in New Hampshire that could effectively decide the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Donald J. Trump will be trying to win votes from a Manhattan courtroom.
On Monday morning, Mr. Trump’s motorcade headed to the downtown courthouse where a jury will soon decide how much money, if any, he must pay the writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in 2019. That was the year she first accused him of raping her decades earlier in a department store dressing room, and the question of whether Mr. Trump will testify continued to loom as the trial was set to resume.
But politics does not stop at the courtroom door. The former president has been treating his court appearances as opportunities to reach voters, even holding a news conference to complain that he was the one who suffered damages.
Mr. Trump has been alternating trial appearances with trips to New Hampshire, and over the weekend held rallies in Concord, Manchester and Rochester.
“They are weaponizing law enforcement at a level like never before,” Mr. Trump said Sunday night at the Rochester rally, adding: “You know where I’m going to be. I don’t have to be there, but I want to be there, because otherwise I can’t get a fair shake. I’m going to be in court.”
Mr. Trump, 77, has suggested that he wanted to testify in the civil trial, which is beginning its second week, and in court filings, Mr. Trump’s and Ms. Carroll’s lawyers have been debating the parameters of what the former president should be allowed to mention. The judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, is likely to ask him directly whether he will take the stand.
Mr. Trump did not attend an earlier trial involving Ms. Carroll, 80, in which a jury last spring found him liable for sexually abusing her and for defaming her in a post on his Truth Social website in 2022. The jury ordered him to pay $5 million in damages.
Here’s what to know about Monday’s proceedings:
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Judge Kaplan has ruled that if Mr. Trump takes the stand, he may not dispute Ms. Carroll’s version of events, as he often does in disparaging social media posts, campaign speeches and news conferences. Mr. Trump has long contended that Ms. Carroll is a liar who fabricated her story of the rape in order to sell a book. Ms. Carroll is asking for at least $10 million in damages.
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Ms. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, asked the judge to ensure that if Mr. Trump testifies, he stays within the confines of the jury’s narrow issue — financial damages — and does not contest the accuracy of Ms. Carroll’s account and turn the trial “into a circus.”
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Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, said that even with the limitations placed on her client, Mr. Trump could “still offer considerable testimony in his defense.” Ms. Habba said Mr. Trump “should be allowed to testify about the circumstances surrounding his statements” and whether he was acting with “hatred or ill will.”
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Ms. Habba said Mr. Trump should be allowed to rebut evidence Ms. Carroll’s lawyers had said they wanted to introduce — the infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which Mr. Trump bragged about grabbing women by their genitals, as well as the testimony of Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, who have said they also were sexually assaulted by Mr. Trump. On Saturday, Ms. Carroll’s lawyer, Ms. Kaplan, told the judge that she would not introduce the Access Hollywood tape or witnesses’ testimony, “to keep the issues at this trial focused.”
Anusha Bayya contributed reporting.
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