Donald Trump grilled on stand in wild testimony

Donald Trump made history as a judge ordered the former president to take the witness stand and answer for explosive comments outside the court.

Donald Trump was ordered to take the witness stand in a historic moment that saw the former president grilled on wild rants made outside the court.

The civil fraud trial being held in New York was thrown into disarray as the judge stalled regular proceedings to answer for comments after being warned violations of a gag order could lead to prison time.

Trump was hit was a USD $10,000 fine after a judge found his claim, that incendiary remarks referred to ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, were “not credible”.

Tramp railed outside the court that if he had a jury the hearing would be fair, because even a negative jury wouldn’t vote against him.

Former US President Donald Trump speaks to the press during a break in Trump's fraud trial in New York. Picture: AFP

“But this judge will. Because this judge is a very partisan judge, with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is,” Trump said.

When Trump testified that he was referencing Cohen as a “partisan person”, Judge Arthur F. Engoron dismissed the explanation.

“As a trier of fact, I find that the witness is not credible,” he said, according to The Messenger.

The $10,000 fine is in addition to a $5,000 fine issued for violating the gag order last week. If he continues to disregard the judges order not to criticise the court, Trump could be sentenced to prison time for contempt.

Trump was called to the stand and sworn in under oath amid audible gasps from crowd, according to reports from inside the court.

While maintaining under questioning that his remarks referred to his former lawyer, Trump continued to criticise the judge’s “partisan” law clerk Allison Greenfield.

“I think she’s very biased against us,” Trump said from the witness stand. “I think we made that clear.”

TRUMP ‘INFLATED WORTH’: LAWYER

Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer and former right-hand man Michael Cohen has given testimony in court against his old boss who alleged the former president inflated his net worth.

Cohen served prison time on federal tax fraud crimes, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations for paying off two women to keep silent on alleged affairs with Trump, who has denied the claims.

It was the first face-to-face meeting between the 77-year-old and his former personal lawyer and fixer since Cohen became one of the most vocal critics of the New York real estate tycoon.

The pair mostly avoided eye contact in New York as Cohen testified in the case in which Trump and his two eldest sons are accused of exaggerating the value of the Trump Organisation’s real estate assets to receive more favourable bank loans and insurance terms.

Michael Cohen returns to the courtroom following his testimony against his former employer and US President Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

Cohen described how a group of Trump cronies – he, Weisselberg, the Trump Organisation’s chief operating officer Matthew Calamari and company executive Ron Lieberman – were assigned to work together on insurance deals.

They were referred to as the “gang of four” or “group of four” by an insurance broker who helped secure coverage for Trump’s various properties. Cohen said that this cohort came together at Trump’s direction.

“I was tasked by Mr Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number he arbitrarily elected,” Cohen, who was once known as Trump’s “pit bull,” told the courtroom.

Cohen acknowledged responsibility for taking part in the alleged fraud and said he and Weisselberg would “reverse-engineer asset classes” to achieve “whatever number (Trump) told us.”

Former US President Donald Trump appears in the courtroom for his civil fraud trial at New York. Picture: AFP

Trump — the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — labelled Cohen a “liar” as he arrived at the courthouse to watch his former lawyer take the stand.

“He’s a proven liar,” Trump said as he arrived to the court before Cohen gave his testimony.

“He’s a felon. He has served a lot of time for lying and we’re just going to go in and see. This case by any other judge, this case would have been over a long time ago.”

EX-TRUMP LAWYER PLEADS GUILTY

Meanwhile, another former legal team representative Jenna Ellis broke down in tears in Georgia.

Ms Ellis sobbed with “deep remorse” as she pleaded guilty to election interference charges, which will require her to testify against co-defendant Trump.

She’s the third of 19 co-defendants to take a plea deal in the Georgia racketeering case, but is considered one of the closest to the former president’s inner circle during the time of the 2020 presidential election.

Lawyer Jenna Ellis flipped on Donald Trump in a racketeering case. Picture: AFP

“I believed that challenging the results on behalf of President Trump should be pursued in a just and legal way,” she said in a tearful statement to the court, but “I failed to do my due diligence.”

“If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges,” she said.

“I look back on this whole experience with deep remorse.”

Lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, infamous for promising to “release the Kraken” of legal challenges, also pleaded guilty, prompting Trump to distance himself from his former team.

“Despite the Fake News reports to the contrary, and without even reaching out to ask the Trump Campaign, MS. POWELL WAS NOT MY ATTORNEY, AND NEVER WAS,” Trump insisted in a social media post.

“Powell was one of millions and millions of people who thought, and in ever increasing numbers still think, correctly, that the 2020 Presidential Election was RIGGED & STOLLEN, AND OUR COUNTRY IS BEING ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED BECAUSE OF IT!!!”