So, that's it - Donald Trump has testified in his second civil defamation trial brought by writer E Jean Carroll. We're now wrapping up our live coverage.

His brief testimony lasted just four minutes, which took us all a bit by surprise here in the newsroom.

The short time on the stand was because Judge Lewis Kaplan had given Trump a very limited scope of what he could talk about. A separate trial last year found Trump sexually assaulted Carroll, so it meant he couldn't repeat his denials and had to stick to what was relevant in the case.

Court returns tomorrow for closing arguments and the jury to be sent off for deliberations. For a write-up of today, that's here.

We've had some court sketches of the moments before and during Trump's testimony this afternoon.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Chloe Kim
Reporting from court

We heard from prosecution witnesses:

• The day began with evidence from E Jean Carroll's old boss, former Elle editor-in-chief, Roberta Myers, who described Carroll as a "truth teller". Habba asked her about the advice column that Carroll wrote, suggesting that Carroll wrote her opinion and was not a "fact-checking journalist"
• Carol Martin, a long-time friend of Carroll, then took the witness stand. Habba pointed to multiple texts from Martin suggesting that Carroll was enjoying the attention from this case. Martin said she had "misused words" and describes herself as a "hyperbolic" person

Then it was Trump. What did he testify?

• There was a discussion between counsel and the judge, who set strict parameters for what Trump would be allowed to say - which took longer than the testimony itself
• In his testimony -which lasted under five minutes - the former president answered two questions, saying he stood by his deposition statement "100%", and answering "no" when asked if he ever instructed anyone to hurt Carroll in his statements
• Trump started to make additional comments, saying "I just wanted to defend myself" - but Judge Kaplan struck them from the record
• Trump was also heard muttering under his breath saying he had never met Carroll. and the judge told him off for interrupting
• As our reporter at court writes, Trump was testing the limits of court - and it's proving a winning formula in his campaign to be the Republican nominee for president

Sam Cabral
US reporter

As we noted earlier, the discussion about what Donald Trump could say on the stand lasted longer than the testimony itself.

Lyrissa Lidsky, a law professor at the University of Florida, says the reason is quite simple.

This trial was solely about how much Trump should pay, since a different jury has already found him liable for sexually abusing E Jean Carroll.

"Trump wanted to repeat his message that E Jean Carroll was lying, but the judge did not allow that because the jury in the previous trial had already found that she was not lying," Lidsky tells the BBC.

"Unable to testify that Carroll was lying, Trump did not have much else to say."

Image source, Reuters

The defence has rested its case, and court will resume at 9:30 local time (14:30 GMT) on Friday for jury instruction.

Then, it's up to the jury to retire and decide this - whether Trump harmed Carroll with specific defamatory statements he made in 2019 while he was president, and if so, how much money he must pay her in compensation.

We have no idea how long jury deliberations will take.

Due to intense media and political scrutiny, the jury is remaining anonymous and jurors have even been urged to use fake names when talking to each other. They're also taken to the courthouse by secure means from undisclosed locations - a set up usually used in cartel cases.

Sam Cabral
US reporter

After pushing for delays so he could take the stand in this case, Donald Trump testified for less than five minutes on Thursday.

That's because Judge Lewis Kaplan has taken such a firm hand on this case, making clear in advance that neither Trump nor his attorney could veer into territory irrelevant to what the jury is considering, says RonNell Andersen Jones, a law professor at the University of Utah.

"The judge has repeatedly said that he would not allow this to be a “do-over” of the case that already decided these were defamatory lies. He enforced that," she tells the BBC.

That shows us "the wide gap between Trump’s strategies in court and his strategies outside of it", she adds.

"In his very short time on the stand, he made a couple of statements that were relevant and admissible for this jury and several that were not. I expect that his game plan will be to emphasize the former in the courtroom and the latter to his audiences outside of it in speeches and social media posts."

Jones believes that, though Trump said he was motivated by a desire to defend himself, a jury may not be easily persuaded by that claim - given there's new evidence daily that the former president continues to spread his claims about Carroll undeterred outside the courtroom.

Trump is testing the limits of court - and it's a winning formulapublished at 20:22 Greenwich Mean Time 25 January

20:22 GMT 25 January

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court in New York

Outlining the ground rules for Donald Trump’s testimony took longer than the testimony itself.

The judge left no room for him to go beyond the agreed terms, making it impossible for him to launch into a monologue or to campaign from the witness stand.

But that still didn’t stop the former president from uttering his thoughts from the defence table, where he wasn’t under oath.

Trump is testing the limits of the courts in his legal cases. It’s keeping his base invested and tuned in.

And more importantly, it’s leading to considerable press coverage as he looks set to be the Republican presidential nominee.

It’s a winning formula for his campaign that he’s unlikely to abandon.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court in New York

Trump's motorcade was idling in a back alley next to the court, although it has just gone.

It's a high-security zone, with a large area fenced off and no-one allowed in.

A police officer tells me Trump wont be speaking to media. This is a change to other court cases in recent weeks, where Trump has given news conferences to reporters near court.

We've just had a few more details of what happened in court earlier, from our US partner CBS News.

Before Trump took the stand the judge outlined severe restrictions on what Trump could say. Judge Kaplan was clear that Trump had “sexually abused” Carroll - something that was established in a separate civil case last year.

Trump shook his head as the judge was saying this, and could be heard making a noise of disgust like “ugh", CBS reported.

While the judge was setting restrictions, Carroll's lawyer said they heard Trump insisting that he would violate the rules.

Moments later as Habba was speaking, Trump did break the rules, saying: "I don’t know who the woman is. I never met this woman", causing the judge to reprimand him for “interrupting".

After his testimony, a reporter with WCBS heard Trump saying, while leaving the courtroom: "It’s not America. This is not America.”

Court has now adjourned.

It will resume tomorrow morning at 9:30 local time (14:30 GMT) for closing arguments and jury deliberation.

Chloe Kim
Reporting from court in New York

Trump's lawyer Habba originally wanted to ask about what Trump’s state of mind was at the time he made the defamatory statements - it was one of three questions she planned to ask when he was on the stand.

But the judge declined and said that if she is asking if he stands by his deposition, then that should cover it. She did ask that, and Trump said he "100%" stood by his deposition.

So in the end, it was just two questions in Trump's testimony.

Chloe Kim
Reporting from court in New York

Prior to testifying, Trump was heard saying "I never met this woman".

Judge Kaplan told him: "Mr. Trump you're interrupting these proceedings by talking loudly...and that is not permitted."

Then, Trump's testimony was over in under five minutes.

The questions between Trump's legal counsel and the judge about what he was allowed to say in testimony took longer than his actual testimony.

Chloe Kim
Reporting from court in New York

More now from Trump's testimony.

Trump's lawyer Alina Habba asked if he instructed anyone to harm Carroll. Trump replies: “No”

This follows Carroll's evidence last week, when she said Trump's statements unleashed a torrent of death threats, rape threats, and online vitriol.

He goes on to say he was "just trying to defend myself" - but the judge says to strike that part from the record - because of the rules over what Trump can say in court.

Chloe Kim
Reporting from court in New York

Here are some details of what just happened when Trump took the stand.

In his testimony, his lawyer Habba asked if he had seen the sworn deposition testimony that he gave in the case, and whether he stands by that.

Trump says on the stand: “100% yes”

Trump has now finished his testimony - it was over almost as quickly as it began, lasting just four minutes.

We're still waiting to hear from our reporters in court about what was said and the key exchanges.

We'll bring you those updates very shortly.

Former President Donald Trump has taken the witness stand in his second defamation case against E Jean Carroll.

It follows days of speculation as to whether he would testify in his own defence. Earlier, Carroll's lawyers raised concerns that Trump would refuse to follow court rules while offering testimony - but the judge set down some rules.

Donald Trump is swearing in to take the witness stand.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court in New York

Judge Kaplan tells Trump he is not allowed to deny that he sexually assaulted Carroll.

Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, said her client would comply, as the judge continued to outline what Trump could say on the stand, asking if that was "100% of what he would say".

Habba replied that she "can't say what he is going to say".

Kaplan told Habba that she could only ask Trump about his actions after the allegations, not the substance of them.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court in New York

The judge says he will instruct the jury that "regardless of what he says in court today, he did it" - meaning the sexual assault, which he was found liable for in a separate case last year.

Carroll's legal team also said they heard Trump muttering under his breath while the judge was laying down the rules, implying he was saying he has never met Carroll.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court in New York

The judge is outlining his expectations for Trump's upcoming testimony.

He asks Trump's lawyer Alina Habba what her client will be saying and demands specifics.

"I want to know everything he's going to say," the judge says, to which Habba replies: "I'm not testifying for my client".

Habba says she will ask only three questions:

• whether he stands by his deposition
• what his state of mind was when he was speaking to reporters (when the defamatory comments were made)
• and that he never instructed anyone to hurt Carroll.