Donald Trump deposition: New York court releases video in civil rape trial

A video of a deposition given by former US president Donald Trump as part of his civil rape trial has been released by the court.

The roughly 48-minute video shows Mr Trump, 76, mistaking his accuser E Jean Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples in a photo.

It also shows him repeating his denial of Ms Carroll’s allegations by claiming she is “not my type”.

Lawyers for both sides rested their case on Thursday.

Mr Trump has not been present in New York for the trial and his lawyers called no witnesses before resting their case.

But, on a judge’s orders, the former president formally provided sworn evidence on camera last October over Ms Carroll’s claim that he raped her inside a New York City department store in the mid-1990s.

Video of the deposition was shown to jurors on Thursday and publicly released for the first time on Friday after a petition by media organisations.

During the deposition, Mr Trump is shown the leaked Access Hollywood tape, which was published by the Washington Post during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Mr Trump can be seen shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he is heard on the tape saying “you can do anything” to women “when you’re a star”.

The footage also shows him describing Ms Carroll’s allegations as “the most ridiculous, disgusting story. It was just made up”.

When he is shown an old photo of him with his first wife Ivana, Ms Carroll and her then-husband John Johnson, Mr Trump misidentifies his accuser with the words “it’s Marla”.

Still looking at the picture, he says “That’s Marla, yeah. That’s my wife” before his lawyer corrects him. Mr Trump then replies that the photo is “very blurry”.

At another point in the video, Mr Trump is unable to recall the date of his marriage to Ms Maples, his second wife and mother to his daughter Tiffany.

Ms Carroll, a writer and long-time advice columnist, is suing the former president for battery over the original incident, as well as for defamation over his adamant denials of the incident.

In the deposition, Mr Trump repeated a comment he has made since Ms Carroll first came forward in 2019, saying: “I say it with as much respect as I can, but she is not my type.”

“Physically, she’s not my type, and now that I’ve gotten indirectly to hear things about her, she wouldn’t be my type in any way, shape, or form,” he adds.

He goes on to tell Ms Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan: “You would not be my choice either, I hope you’re not insulted.”

During their combative exchanges, he calls Ms Kaplan a “political operative” and a “disgrace”.

Lawyers for Mr Trump have said he will not testify in person, but the former president told reporters he might cut short a trip to Ireland and the UK to “confront” Ms Carroll in court.

In light of the comments, the judge granted Mr Trump until Sunday afternoon to decide if he will take the stand.