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Donald Trump did not show up at a civil rape trial against him because “he knows what he did” to the woman accusing him of allegedly raping her, a jury heard in closing remarks.

Lawyers for writer E Jean Carroll, who is suing the former president, said Mr Trump “didn’t even bother to show up in person” to the civil trial in New York and called him a “witness against himself”.

Ms Carroll, 79, claims that Mr Trump raped her in a department store changing room in Manhattan in the mid-1990s, and then tarred her reputation by lying about it online – which he denies.

She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

During the trial, Ms Carroll testified and told jurors Mr Trump “shattered” her reputation and she was there “to try and get my life back”.

Mr Trump’s lawyer insists Ms Carroll has “abused the system” for “money, status and political reasons” and said her inability to recall the date of the alleged incident made it impossible for Mr Trump to defend himself.

In closing remarks in the third week, Ms Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan played jurors a portion of the Access Hollywood video from 2005, where Mr Trump said into a hot mic that celebrities could grab women’s genitals without asking.

Ms Kaplan recalled Mr Trump’s comment that “stars like him can get away with sexually assaulting women”.

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Moment Trump confuses rape accuser with ex-wife

She said: “That’s who Donald Trump is. That is how he thinks. And that’s what he does.”

She told jurors that much of what he said in his deposition and in public statements “actually supports our side of the case”, adding that he is “a witness against himself”.

“He knows what he did. He knows that he sexually assaulted E Jean Carroll,” Ms Kaplan said.

In the trial, jurors were also shown a deposition of Mr Trump confusing Ms Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples in a photograph – which Ms Carroll’s lawyers say undermines the former president’s argument that she was not his type.

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Trump: ‘She’s a fake!’

Mr Trump has said he could not have raped Ms Carroll, because “she’s not my type” and called the case politically motivated.

The former president waived his right to testify at trial and opted not to present a defence, gambling that jurors will find Ms Carroll had failed to make a persuasive case.

During closing arguments, Mr Trump’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina, said Ms Carroll has “abused this system”.

He said: “She has abused this system by bringing a false claim for, amongst other things, money, status, political reasons.

Read more:
Trump attacks rape accuser as ‘fake’
Trump’s high stakes trial is adding to his legal baggage

“With no date, no month, no year, you can’t present an alibi, you can’t call witnesses.

“What they want is for you to hate him enough to ignore the facts.”

Since Ms Carroll first made her accusations in a 2019 memoir, Mr Trump, 76, has denied that a rape ever occurred or that he even knew Ms Carroll.

Ms Carroll claimed after running into Mr Trump at Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman, they teased one another to try on a piece of lingerie.

She alleged they ended up alone together in a changing room, where Mr Trump pushed her against a wall and raped her before she fought him off and fled.

Judge Lewis A Kaplan, who is unrelated to Ms Kaplan, told jurors they would begin deliberations on Tuesday.

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Elon Musk says he’s created his own political party – the ‘America Party’

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Elon Musk says he's created his own political party - the 'America Party'

Elon Musk says he has created a new political party – the America Party –
after asking his followers if he should do so in an online poll.

It follows his public falling out with Republican President Donald Trump.

On Friday, the billionaire had asked his followers on X whether a new US political party should be created.

On Saturday evening he wrote on the same platform: “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!

“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.

“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”

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Trump threatens to ‘put DOGE’ on Musk

The world’s richest man made the announcement just one day after President Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which Musk had fiercely opposed.

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Musk had previously said we would form and fund a new political party to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill.

From bromance to bust-up

The Tesla boss backed Trump’s election campaign with more than a quarter of a billion dollars, later rewarded with a high profile role running the newly created department of government efficiency (DOGE).

But observers of the two men, both with huge wealth and reputations, wondered how long the bromance would last.

Elon Musk receives a golden key from U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
Donald Trump gave Musk a warm send-off in the Oval Office in May. Pic: Reuters

In May Musk left the role, still on good terms with Trump but criticising key parts of his legislative agenda.

After that, the attacks ramped up, with Musk slamming the sweeping tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination” and Trump hitting back in a barbed tit-for-tat.

Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billion-dollar federal subsidies that flow to Musk’s companies, and said he would even consider deporting him.

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Is this the most powerful Trump’s been?

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Is this the most powerful Trump's been?

👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈

Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ has passed and he’s due to sign it into law on Independence Day. Mark Stone and David Blevins discuss how the bill will supercharge his presidency, despite its critics.

They also chat Gaza and Ukraine, as Donald Trump meets with freed Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander and talks to Vladimir Putin.

If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

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At least 13 people confirmed dead and more than 20 missing from girls camp in Texas flooding

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At least 13 people confirmed dead and more than 20 missing from girls camp in Texas flooding

13 people have been killed in the US state of Texas after heavy rain caused flash flooding, according to local media reports.

Officials have also said more than 20 are missing from a girls’ camp in Texas.

As much as 10 inches (25 centimetres) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.

Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in the county, confirmed fatalities from the flooding and dozens of water rescues so far.

A flood watch issued on Thursday afternoon estimated isolated amounts up to seven inches (17 centimetres) of rising water.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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