Tensions between Engeron and Trump, already on display last month when the judge fined him $10,000 for incendiary outside-of-court comments.
The judge presiding over the civil fraud trial of Donald Trump admonished him to keep his answers concise, reminding him and the courtroom that “this is not a political rally” as the former president and leading Republican president candidate began testifying in a lawsuit accusing him of dramatically inflating his net worth.
“We don’t have time to waste. We have one day to do this,” an exasperated Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engeron said at one point. At another, he said, “In addition to the answers being non-responsive, they’re repetitive.”
Trump’s turn on the witness stand, in a case that cuts to the heart of the business brand he spent decades crafting, represents a remarkable convergence of his legal troubles and his political ventures at a time when he also faces criminal indictments while vying to reclaim the White House in 2024.
The testimony gives him the opportunity to try to use the witness stand as a campaign platform, but its under-oath format, before a judge who has already fined him for incendiary comments outside of court, also invites clear peril for a businessman and candidate famous for a freewheeling rhetorical style.
Tensions between Engeron and Trump, already on display last month when the judge fined him $10,000 for incendiary outside-of-court comments, were evident Monday when the ex-president was repeatedly scolded about the length and content of his answers.
“Mr. Kise, can you control your client? This is not a political rally. This is a courtroom,” Engeron told Trump lawyer Christopher Kise, who himself has clashed with the judge.
The judge later added: “I do not want to hear everything this witness has to say.
