Judge Kaplan Threatens to Throw Trump Out of Courtroom

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan threatened to kick former President Donald Trump out of the courtroom over his commentary to lawyers during the first day of testimony in his civil lawsuit involving journalist E. Jean Carroll.

A New York City jury in May found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist who has accused him of assaulting her in a New York City department store changing room in the mid-1990s. Carroll's attorneys are seeking an additional $10 million in damages after the former president said she was lying about her accusations, saying he has no idea who Carroll is and that she was not his "type." Trump maintains his innocence in the case, which is civil, not criminal.

Trump appeared in the New York City courtroom for the beginning of the trial, which Kaplan has said will likely last three to five days, on Wednesday. The trial quickly saw several tense exchanges between Trump's attorneys and Kaplan.

During the trial, Kaplan threatened to kick the former president out of the courtroom, reported Politico's Erica Orden in a series of posts to X, formerly Twitter.

"Kaplan threatened to kick Trump out of court after Carroll's counsel complained again about Trump's commentary. Kaplan: "Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited." He continued: "Mr. Trump, I hope I don't have to consider excluding you from the trial," Orden posted.

She continued: "After Trump threw his hands up in the air and said, "I would love it," Kaplan continued: "I know you would. I know you would. You just can't control yourself in this circumstance, apparently."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Kaplan asked Trump to speak more quietly to his attorneys after one of Carroll's lawyers raised concerns about Trump speaking loudly in front of the jury, according to Matthew Russell Lee, known as Inner City Press, on X.

"Carroll's Shawn Crowley: Ms. Habba has twice now mentioned other men—now she's brought up that Ms. Carroll received funding for this case. That was improper. And Mr. Trump has been loudly saying, She got her memory back," he posted, first referring to Trump attorney Alina Habba.

Kaplan reminded Trump to speak quietly in front of the jury before they returned to the room, according to Lee. Trump was then seen whispering to Habba.

"I'm just going to ask that Mr. Trump take special care to keep his voice down when he's conferring with counsel so that the jury does not overhear it," Kaplan said, according to Lee.

MSNBC host Katie Phang noted some examples of Trump's courtroom behavior in a post to X.

"Trump has also been shaking his head in anger and loudly murmuring to Habba throughout E. Jean's testimony saying things like: 'Carroll's statements are false' and 'she seems to have gotten her memory back,'" Phang posted.

Habba earlier in the day had a tense exchange with Kaplan after she asked for an adjournment of the trial tomorrow so that Trump could attend his mother-in-law's funeral. Kaplan has previously denied that request.

"VERY testy exchange between Habba and Judge Kaplan after Habba again asked for adjournment so Trump can attend funeral. Kaplan: "The application is denied. I will hear no further argument on it." Habba attempted to speak. Kaplan: "None. Do you understand that word? Sit down," Orden wrote on X.