Judge rejects Trump request to delay rape trial over negative publicity

The court said that Trump himself provoked' some of the publicity and cannot claim prejudice to delay next week's trial start

Donald Trump's rape trial will begin next week as scheduled after a federal judge rejected a request for a one-month delay, saying the former president cannot make public statements to promote pre-trial publicity and then claim it is prejudicial to him and reason to delay.

Lewis A Kaplan, a federal judge in Manhattan, said the civil trial on claims against Trump by the columnist E Jean Carroll will begin as scheduled on 25 April. Trump denies the rape or knowing Carroll.