Trump walks out of court in middle of E. Jean Carroll closing arguments

Former President Trump walked out of the Manhattan federal courtroom where his sexual abuse defamation trial is ongoing, just after a lawyer for writer E. Jean Carroll had begun issuing closing remarks Friday.

It’s unclear why Trump left the courtroom, though it occurred shortly after Carroll lawyer Roberta Kaplan said the former president “has tried to normalize conduct that is abnormal.”

After Trump left, Judge Lewis Kaplan directed the defense — and, by name, adviser Boris Epshteyn — to remain seated, CNN and ABC News reported.

“The record will reflect that Mr. Trump just rose and walked out of the courtroom,” said Kaplan, who is not related to Carroll’s lawyer.

The former president did not return to the courtroom until his lawyer, Alina Habba, began the defense’s closing argument.

Trump’s abrupt departure from court is not a first. During his civil fraud trial, which concluded earlier this month, he huffed out of the courtroom after a judge denied the ending of the case in his favor when Trump’s ex-fixer and personal attorney, Michael Cohen, contradicted himself on the witness stand.

Carroll is suing Trump for defamation over his 2019 denials that he sexually abused her decades earlier. The former Elle columnist secured a verdict last year finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and awarding her $5 million.

Now, she’s seeking more than $24 million in damages for Trump’s denials. Kaplan already found Trump liable in the defamation case, so the current jury need only decide how much Trump must pay Carroll.

Earlier Friday morning, Kaplan admonished Habba, Trump’s lawyer, for continuing to talk when he told her she was finished.

“You are on the verge of spending some time in the lockup. Now sit down,” the judge told Habba.

Closing remarks in the Carroll trial are expected to finish Friday, after which the jury will head into deliberations.

Zach Schonfeld and The Associated Press contributed.

Updated at 2:14 p.m.