New video shows Trump defending comments on grabbing women

Jurors in former US President Donald Trump's civil rape trial were shown a video deposition on Thursday in which he defended private comments he made in 2005 about grabbing women sexually without asking. 

The video showed Trump being questioned by a lawyer for E. Jean Carroll, who has accused the former president of raping her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s. Carroll is seeking unspecified damages, and the trial is expected to run into next week. Trump will not testify at the trial and has not been in the Manhattan courtroom so far. He has denied all the allegations.

During the deposition, Trump was asked about the 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape in which he said, "when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything... Grab 'em by the pussy." 

Trump defended the comments, saying, "Historically, that's true, with stars... if you look over the last million years." The tape was first made public in October 2016, a month before Trump was elected U.S. president.

Carroll's lawyers have argued that the episode, made public in January, undermines Trump's argument that Carroll was not his type. Trump has called the case politically motivated and dismissed what he called untrue allegations "against a rich guy."

During the deposition, Trump also mistook Carroll for his second wife Marla Maples in a black-and-white photograph. Carroll's lawyers argued that the episode shows Trump's claim that Carroll was not his type is false.

A social media and marketing expert hired by Carroll told jurors on Thursday that the cost to repair the reputational damage of Trump's statements could range from $368,000 to $2.8 million. Carroll has testified that Trump raped her and then tarred her reputation and career by lying about it online.

Two other women have also testified in support of Carroll, saying Trump sexually assaulted them in separate alleged incidents decades ago. Trump has denied those claims as well and accused Carroll of making up the story to drive sales of a 2019 memoir in which she made her claims public.