Trump arrived around 9:40 a.m. ET and ambled into the courtroom, walking to his seat. He took off his overcoat and sat at the defense table next to attorney Alina Habba.

Carroll has also arrived and is sitting two rows in front of Trump with her back to him.

Trump suggested in a Truth Social post that there's no way he would have met Carroll several decades ago because he has been long considered an "A-List celebrity." His post went up as he arrived in court.

Trump wrote that he has been "wrongfully accused by a woman he never met, saw, or touched (a photo line does not count!), and knows absolutely nothing about," he wrote. "I have been considered an A-List celebrity for many decades, so even decades ago, since no one knows which date or dates to refer to, because the accusing woman can’t say the day, month, season, year, or decade, it would have been impossible for me to walk into a crowded department store (surrounded by buildings I own), right opposite the cashiers’ checkout desk, without being written about on Page Six, and every other outlet at the time. Remember, those gossip columnists were, perhaps, even more vicious and obsessed than the Internet of today."

Joe Tacopina is no longer representing Trump in his hush money case and the appeal of the Carroll verdict, the New York attorney told NBC News yesterday.

Trump wrote on Truth Social this morning that after his victory in the Iowa caucuses last night, he's going to "the Biden encouraged Witch Hunt in Lower Manhattan to fight against a FAKE Case from a woman I have never met, seen, or touched (Celebrity Lines don’t count!)."

Trump provided no evidence that Biden was involved with the civil case brought by Carroll, who first sued the former president in 2019.

"Naturally, it starts right after Iowa, and during the very important New Hampshire Primary where, despite their sinister attempts, I will be tonight! It is a giant Election Interference Scam, pushed and financed by political operatives. I had no idea who this woman was. PURE FICTION!" he wrote in his post.

Trump plans to attend the start of the new Carroll civil damages trial today, according to two sources familiar with his travel plans.

The former president will travel from Des Moines, Iowa, to New York City following the state’s caucuses that NBC News projected he won last night.

Cameras are not allowed in the U.S. District Court where the case is being heard and it is unlikely the U.S. Secret Service would allow Trump to address cameras in front of the courthouse.

Trump is set to travel to New Hampshire for a campaign event tonight. The New Hampshire primary will take place next Tuesday.

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The trial centers on a defamation case brought by Carroll, a magazine writer who accused the former president of raping her in the 1990s, then defaming her when she went public with her allegations.

A New York jury last year found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll. She was awarded $5 million in damages in May. The jury did not find Trump liable for the rape allegations.

The second trial, set to start today, involves Trump’s public comments about Carroll that he made both while he was president and after the jury’s verdict in May.

Read the full story here.

Jury selection begins in the morning in federal court in lower Manhattan, and the panel will have to determine how much in damages Donald Trump should pay E. Jean Carroll for defamatory comments he made about her when he was president and after a different jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation last year.

Jury selection is expected to take a few hours in the morning, and will then be followed by opening statements in a trial that could result in Trump being hit with a judgment in the tens of millions of dollars.

Trump has said he plans to testify in his own defense. “I’m going to explain I don’t know who the hell she is,” he told reporters Thursday. 

Read the full story here.