Trump seeks to delay rape accuser's defamation trial over media coverage

FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on the day of his court appearance in New York after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury following a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 4, 2023. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump has asked a U.S. judge to delay by four weeks a trial scheduled for April 25 over whether he defamed former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll by denying he raped her.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, Trump's lawyers said the former U.S. president's right to a fair trial required a "cooling off" period, following the recent "deluge of prejudicial media coverage" of his indictment by the Manhattan district attorney's office.