Trump's New York defamation trial to resume Thursday

Donald Trump's New York defamation trial will resume on Thursday, two days after the New Hampshire primary

New York (AFP) - Donald Trump's sexual assault defamation trial in New York will resume on Thursday, two days after the Republican primaries in New Hampshire, with the former US president expected to testify.

Writer Jean Carroll, 80, is seeking more than $10 million alleging that the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination defamed her when he mocked her sexual assault accusations by saying she "is not my type." 

The jury will decide only how much Trump should be forced to pay her.

The trial is separate from a case last year where another New York jury found Trump, 77, liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996 and subsequently defaming her in 2022, when he called her a "complete con job."

Commuting between campaign events and the Manhattan courthouse in recent days, Trump planned to testify in court Monday, but the hearing was postponed after a juror fell ill. 

The hearing will now take place on Thursday at 9:30 am. (1430 GMT), the prosecutor's office said.

Trump's anticipated testimony would come on the heels of the Republican primaries in New Hampshire on Tuesday, where he hopes to seal the Republican presidential nomination by beating former UN ambassador Nikki Haley. 

The New York trial is also separate from the four criminal cases and the civil fraud case the real estate tycoon faces. 

© Agence France-Presse