Donald Trump will not deliver his closing arguments on Thursday, Jan. 11, in his civil fraud trial in New York as he hoped to do. The judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, was initially open to the idea, but only if the former president agreed to certain parameters.
The judge wanted Trump to promise to follow the limited gag order, which keeps him from blasting the New York attorney general or her staff. The judge told Trump to stick to “relevant matters” and “not deliver a campaign speech.”
However, in a series of heated email exchanges made public Wednesday, Jan. 10, Trump’s lawyers would not agree to the stipulations by the judge’s deadline, calling them unfair and saying Trump is being wrongfully demeaned. The judge responded by telling Trump’s team that he would not grant any further extensions, saying, “Take it or leave it.”
On his social platform, Truth Social, Trump called the judge “mean and nasty” and indicated he will still attend the court proceedings on Thursday, Jan. 11, while complaining he had to leave Iowa after his town hall on Fox News.
“I will then be forced to circle back to New York where I would like to personally do the closing argument on the civil trial where the Trump hating judge and attorney general are working closely together to ‘screw me,’”’ even though I have done nothing wrong,” Trump posted.
The former president is accused of falsifying business records to receive better deals from banks and insurers. He has denied any wrongdoing. The case could end up costing the former president up to $370 million and permanently keep him from doing business in the real estate industry in New York.