NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump asked a New York state trial judge to put on hold a defamation lawsuit by Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who has accused him of rape, saying a successful appeal in a separate defamation case could shield him from both lawsuits.
The president has been asking the New York State Court of Appeals to block Summer Zervos, a 2005 contestant on his reality television show "The Apprentice," from suing him for defamation while he is president, for calling her a liar after she accused him of kissing and groping her.