A federal judge warned Donald Trump on Wednesday he could be kicked out of writer E. Jean Carroll's defamation trial if he kept making disparaging comments that the jury could hear.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan's threat came after a lawyer for Carroll said Trump was talking loudly with his lawyers during testimony by Carroll, who said the president lied by denying in 2019 that he had raped her decades earlier.
Carroll, 80, an Elle magazine advice columnist for 27 years, testified that the former US president destroyed her reputation, and is seeking at least $10 million in damages.
The judge warned Trump to control himself.
"Mr. Trump has the right to be present," Kaplan said. "That right can be forfeited and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive ... and if he disregards court orders.
"Mr. Trump, I hope I don't have to consider excluding you from the trial," the judge told him. "I understand you are probably very eager for me to do that."
Trump, 77, has said he wants to testify in his defense, but is not required to be in court.
He skipped opening statements on Tuesday, to attend a New Hampshire campaign event that night.
Trump's multiple criminal and civil trials have become a focus of his 2024 White House run, with Trump using his Truth Social platform to criticise Carroll and the judge even after the trial had begun.
Following Kaplan's warning, Trump posted that Kaplan was a "seething and hostile" judge with "a major case of Trump Derangement Syndrome".
Trump often uses his legal travails to rally supporters and raise funds as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination, denouncing the cases as part of a political plot.
He has pleaded not guilty in four state and federal criminal cases, including two claiming he tried to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
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