He twisted around in his chair and nodded at two prospective jurors – a man and woman – who stood when asked if they agreed with hisfalse belief that the 2020 election was rigged,and again when three people in the pool indicated they felt the former president was being treated unfairly by the court system.

The process offered a window into the political beliefs of a microcosm of New Yorkers,drawn from a pool that includes Manhattan and northern suburban counties. Some noted personal connections to Trump or his adversaries. One woman said she had done publicity for his daughter’s company. Another said her father provided moving services for some of Trump’s buildings. Neither made the cut.

Jurors selected for the trial will remain anonymous,even to the parties,lawyers and judicial staff,and will be driven to and from the courthouse from an undisclosed location for their safety,Kaplan said.

Trump has increasingly made his courtroom travails – including four criminal cases – part of his run to retake the White House,positioning himself as a victim of partisan lawyers,judges and prosecutors and capitalising on news coverage that accompanies his court visits.

Last week,Trump attended closing arguments in the New York Attorney-General’s fraud lawsuit against him – and ended up giving a six-minute diatribe after his lawyers spoke.

“I guess you’d consider it part of the campaign,” Trump told reporters last week.

Carroll,80,plans to testify about the damage to her career and reputation that resulted from Trump’s public statements. She seeks $US10 million in compensatory damages and millions more in punitive damages.

If Trump testifies,he will be under strict limits on what he can say. Because of the prior verdict,Kaplan has said,Trump cannot get on the witness stand and argue that he didn’t sexually abuse or defame Carroll.

Last May,a different jury awarded Carroll $US5 million after concluding that Trump sexually abused her in a department store dressing room in spring 1996,then defamed her in 2022 by claiming she made it up after she revealed it publicly in a 2019 memoir. The jury said Carroll hadn’t proven that Trump raped her.

Trump is appealing and hasn’t paid any of that award,though he placed $US5.55 million in escrow to cover the verdict and other costs in the event he loses his appeal. One issue that wasn’t decided in the first trial was how much Trump owed for comments he made about Carroll while president. That will be the new jury’s only job.

Even before prospective jurors were brought into court on Tuesday,Trump lawyer Michael Madaio complained that the judge had made “inconsistent and unfair” rulings against Trump prior to the start of the trial. He said the rulings “drastically changed our ability to defend this case and largely stripped us of our defences”.

He also argued that given Trump’s pending appeal,the trial should not proceed at all.

Trump,77,has continued to maintain that he doesn’t know Carroll,that he never met her at the Bergdorf Goodman store in midtown Manhattan in spring 1996 and that Carroll made up her claims to sell her book and for political reasons.

AP

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