Former President Donald Trump intends to attend the start of the new E. Jean Carroll civil damages trial on Tuesday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his plans.
Trump plans to travel from Des Moines, Iowa, to New York City following the state's caucuses that NBC News projected he won on Monday night, another source familiar with his travel plans said.
The trial centers on a defamation case brought by Carroll, a magazine writer who accused the former president of raping her in the 1990s, then defaming her when she went public with her allegations.
A New York jury last year found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll. She was awarded $5 million in damages in May. The jury did not find Trump liable for the rape allegations.
The second trial, set to start on Tuesday, involves Trump's public comments about Carroll that he made both while he was president and after the jury's verdict in May.
Cameras are not allowed in the U.S. District Court where the case is being heard and it is unlikely U.S. Secret Service would allow Trump to address cameras in front of the courthouse.
After attending the start of the trial, Trump is set to travel to New Hampshire for a campaign event Tuesday night. The New Hampshire primary will take place Jan. 23.
The Carroll trial is one of many facing Trump this year as he seeks a return to the White House. Others include allegations that he tried to subvert the results of the 2020 election, mishandled classified documents and falsified his business records related to hush money payments. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of the cases where he's facing criminal charges, and he has denied wrongdoing in the civil cases.
Trump had previously asked the court to halt the proceedings in the Carroll case for 90 days, but a federal appeals court rejected the request last month, noting that the former president had waited too long to introduce his presidential immunity defense. The court said that Trump had not brought up the immunity claim until January of last year, despite Carroll filing the defamation lawsuit in 2019.
