Donald Trump on Thursday told reporters in Ireland he “has to” cut his trip short because he needs to “confront this woman” in court.
“This woman” is journalist E. Jean Carroll, who is suing the ex-president in a civil court case for rape and defamation.
“I’m going back to New York. I was falsely accused by this woman, I have no idea who she is – it’s ridiculous,” Trump said, according to the Irish Examiner. “I’ll be going back early because a woman made a claim that is totally false, it’s fake.”
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan for weeks had been trying to get Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, to let the court know whether or not the ex-president would appear in court and whether or not he would testify.
Tacopina finally announced on Tuesday that Trump would not testify.
Now Tacopina says regardless of what Trump claims, he will not be confronting Carroll in court.
“Former US President Donald Trump has concluded his visit to Ireland, after spending a short time at his golf resort at Doonbeg in Co Clare,” reported RTÉ, Ireland’s public broadcaster. “He blamed civil proceedings under way in New York for cutting short his time in both Ireland and Scotland, and repeated his denials of accusations of rape.”
“I have to go back,” Trump told reporters in Ireland, the New York Daily News adds, “and confront this woman.”
“I have to leave early,” he added. “I don’t have to but I choose to.”
But the Daily News adds, “Trump’s own defense lawyer Joe Tacopina confirmed the ex-president will not attend the civil rape trial, which is expected to wrap up early next week.”
On Twitter, the Daily News’ Molly Crane-Newman put it another way: “Asked if this is happening, Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina said, ‘No.'”
“It’s called false accusations against a rich guy,” Trump complained, “or in my case, against a famous, rich, and political person.”
Watch video of Trump’s remarks below or at this link.