Trump testifies in the E. Jean Carroll trial

Former President Donald Trump, in brief testimony Thursday in the defamation trial brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll, insisted that his previous recorded statement about the allegations was true and that he did not intend to harm her.

"100 percent," he said when asked if he stood by his deposition in which he called Carroll a liar.

Asked by Alina Habba, his lawyer, if he ever instructed anyone to hurt Carroll, Trump said: "I just wanted to defend myself, my family and, frankly, the presidency."

Carroll sued Trump for calling her a liar when she accused him of sexually assaulting her. This is her second lawsuit against him.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has already ruled Trump is liable for defamation but a jury must decide how much he owes her.

Trump's appearance in the New York courtroom comes just days after he won the New Hampshire primary and became the prohibitive GOP front-runner. The case is one of several involving Trump, who is also awaiting a verdict in a civil trial that could result in him paying at least $250 million to New York state for his business practices, which have been deemed by a judge to be fraudulent. He could also be prohibited from doing business in the state where he made his name as a real estate mogul. In all, Trump faces 91 charges in federal and state trials, ranging from the ones in New York to those at the federal level related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Closing arguments in the Carroll case are set for Friday.

What this case is about

In 2019, Carroll, an advice columnist and freelance writer, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. The accusation, which was detailed in her book, was first previewed in a New York magazine article. After the article published,