Opinion | Why Trump's E. Jean Carroll testimony was so brief

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

55% : In the end, Kaplan only allowed the following line of questioning to Trump: "You viewed your deposition?" to which Trump responded: "I stand by it 100%, yes."
40% : But, surprisingly, Trump's much anticipated time on the witness stand lasted a whopping three minutes -- at most.Trump's attorney Alina Habba initially attempted to convince Judge Lewis Kaplan to permit her to ask Trump at least three questions.
40% : Waging constant attacks on Carroll outside court may feel to Trump like a better strategy than trying to convince this jury that he didn't do anything wrong, but we'll have to let Kaplan be the judge of that.
39% : During an argument back-and-forth between Habba and Kaplan, before the jury was brought back in from their lunch break, Trump interrupted the judge and his lawyer to mutter loudly, "I wasn't at the trial.
38% : "Kaplan quickly admonished Trump and instructed him to keep his voice down.
37% : And, "Did you instruct anyone to hurt Ms. Carroll?" to which Trump responded: "No," with some more words -- but the judge struck the rest of his testimony after the word "no" and instructed the jury to disregard it.
35% : Kaplan was also keeping Trump on a tight leash, and so it's unsurprising that his entire direct examination lasted 1-2 minutes total.
35% : When asked whether Trump would abide by the proffer that Habba provided to the court, Habba admitted that she "doesn't have a crystal ball."
31% : Trump did himself no favors by being on the stand for mere minutes.
30% : I think Trump thought he might be able to get away with more than he was able to do.
30% : There was plenty of evidence that Habba had zero control over her client, and that alone militates toward why Trump was kept on such a tight leash by Kaplan.
29% : But let's not forget: In his first defamation trial, Trump was listed as a defense witness and he voluntarily chose not to testify.
27% : Trump has already shown that he has zero regard for the law, as well as zero respect for the first jury's findings that he defamed Carroll.
25% : She even argued that she had the right to ask about Trump's intent behind making his defamatory statements, but Kaplan shot her down and told her that he alone would decide what Trump had the right to do in court, admonishing Habba that it was his job, not hers.
24% : Trump must have known the legal realities going in: This courtroom battle with Carroll was all but lost before it even began.
22% : Donald Trump finally took the stand Thursday in his own defense during the second defamation trial brought by E. Jean Carroll.
22% : Furthermore, Trump basically only testifying that he stood by his sworn deposition is one way to back-door in his denials of liability for the sexual abuse and the defamation.
22% : Personally, and given what we've seen so far in this trial, I don't see how Trump testifying Thursday is going to reduce his damages exposure as jurors deliberate on the amount owed to Carroll.
19% : Trump saying he stood by his sworn deposition was a way to sneak in his denials of liability for the sexual abuse and the defamation.
10% : Kaplan reinforced that there would be "no do-overs" by Trump, meaning Trump was already limited going into this trial with what evidence he could present in his defense.
10% : As such, Habba knew that she would not get any leeway from Kaplan to explore more questioning with Trump, considering the pretrial rulings, as well as the judge's declaration immediately prior to Trump's testimony that Trump could not make any arguments on the stand that were against the prior jury's findings.

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