Donald Trump denies ever knowing rape accuser E Jean Carroll

Donald Trump denied knowing E Jean Carroll in a video deposition played on Thursday in a Manhattan court, where the writer is suing Mr Trump for rape.

Ms Carroll, 79, has accused Mr Trump, 76, of attacking her in a New York City department store in the mid-1990s.

Mr Trump, who has repeatedly denied the allegation, has not yet attended the civil trial, now in its second week.

He told reporters he might cut his ongoing golf trip to Ireland short to "confront" Ms Carroll in New York.

"I'll be going back early because a woman made a claim that is totally false, it's fake," Mr Trump said.

The nine-member jury saw video of a combative deposition between the former president and Roberta Kaplan, one of Ms Carroll's lawyers, filmed in October.

Mr Trump continued his emphatic denials of Ms Carroll's accusation, that Mr Trump manoeuvred her into a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan and raped her.

"If it did happen, it would have been reported within minutes," Mr Trump said, suggesting that others at the "very busy store" would have heard an ongoing attack.

Lawyers for Ms Carroll are expected to rest their case later on Thursday after days of graphic testimony. Ms Carroll told jurors she was left "unable to ever have a romantic life again" after the alleged attack.

Her account was supported in court by her friend, Lisa Birnbach, who testified this week to receiving a call from Ms Carroll minutes after she says she was raped.

And two other women - Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff - were called by Ms Carroll's team and described alleged sexual assaults committed by Mr Trump - claims he has denied.

Mr Trump's suggestion that he would return to New York comes after his lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, told the judge Mr Trump would not be coming to testify and that no witnesses would be called in his defence.

A former columnist for Elle magazine, Ms Carroll was able to bring the civil case against Mr Trump after New York passed the Adult Survivors Act in 2022.

The act allowed a one-year period for victims to file sexual assault lawsuits in the state over claims that would have normally exceeded statute limitations.