This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of W NYC Studios and the New Yorker.

Welcome to the New Yorker Radio Hour, I'm David Remnick.

Well, it's been a big week for Donald Trump.

After winning the Iowa caucuses last week by a record-breaking margin,

he went to court. Now there are four criminal cases against

him, but this court appearance was in another case altogether. The civil trial brought

by E. Jean Carroll.

Carroll, who was a writer, accused Trump of sexually abusing her in the 1990s,

and he was already found liable by a jury last year.

He's also liable for defamation in the

relentless smear campaign he's been waging against her. There was a previous

trial on a different defamatory statement but but it resolved with a jury some of the issues it would have otherwise been at issue here, like whether there was a sexual assault here, whether Trump actually assaulted her, whether he defamed her when he denied doing so.

Those issues are now off the table. Those are resolved. So the only thing at issue here is

the damages for this second defamatory statement.

Although for all intents and purposes,

Trump has already lost this case.

He defamed E.C.

Carol, and the judge says that he can't try to re-litigate that.

The abuse has not stopped, not by any stretch of the imagination.

During the proceedings, Trump's account on Truth Social posted dozens of exactly the kind of

statements at issue in the trial itself.

Carol's attorney asked jurors to consider the ongoing attacks against her as they determine the award for damages.

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