Trump Lashes Out at Lawyers in Wild Rant After Appeal Hearing: “I’m Disappointed in My Legal Talent”

During his meandering press conference on Friday, Donald Trump blasted his own legal team. It was after he attended hearings in federal court in Manhattan to overturn the $5 million verdict against him in E. Jean Carroll's sexual assault complaint. In a nearly hour-long tirade to reporters from Trump Tower in Manhattan, the former president reiterated libelous claims against Carroll.

As reported by Mediate, Trump disparaged his own attorneys, including campaign adviser Alina Habba and John Sauer, who were visibly uncomfortable standing behind him. He said, "I feel sad I have to come up here and explain it. I have all of this legal talent, but legal talent cannot overcome rigged judges, they can’t overcome a 4% Republican area, and I’m disappointed in my legal talent, I’ll be honest with you."

Before his press conference, Trump was in New York City for an appeal hearing about his trial involving the 80-year-old writer Carroll. That trial concluded in 2023 when Trump was found guilty of sexual abuse and defamation. He is thus far liable for $5 million due to a judge's ruling in a case that Trump claims was 'rigged' and driven by political motives. Both Carroll and Trump were present at Friday's hearing.

During the press conference, Trump vented his frustrations once again at his lawyers for failing to mention the purported dress that Carroll was wearing back in the mid 90s. Trump claimed that the clothing contained DNA from an unnamed man. Trump told the reporters, "So the Monica Lewinsky-type dress was a big part of the trial, big, big part of the trial. I said, ‘why didn’t you mention that?’ And I heard there was a dress involved and I wasn’t frightened at all because I did nothing with her. Never touched this woman, saw this woman — I had no idea who she was."

Nevertheless, Trump seemed to completely derail the press conference when he shifted the focus from the trial to his campaign. As reported by The Daily Beast, following Thursday evening's prediction that Trump had a 56% probability of winning the election, he referred to FiveThirtyEight's statistician, Nate Silver, as a 'very respected guy.' Silver had been Trump's nemesis in the 2016 Republican primary and general election, and Trump had accused him of being an underdog.

Trump again diverted the conference and spoke about Tuesday's debate with Kamala Harris. He mentioned, "I’m going into very hostile territory shortly on a debate with ABC’s George Slopodopoulos and that group. ABC, I think is the worst of everybody. I think they’re the worst. They’re the nastiest. They’re as bad as you can be, even worse than NBC, which is saying a lot."

Additionally, Carroll has sued Trump in two separate legal lawsuits, and the courts have ordered him to pay a total of $88 million in damages. In a second civil complaint, a court upheld the former president's continuous public defamation of Carroll, awarding $83 million in damages, on top of the $5 million first ordered to be paid to Carroll in May of last year. Trump sought a new trial in April, but a federal judge denied his request. Although Trump has been heavily fined, he has persisted publicly and online in attacking Carroll.