Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower with mysterious marks on his fingers as rape accuser E. Jean Carroll prepares to take the stand in a $10 million defamation lawsuit

Donald Trump will see rape accuser E. Jean Carroll testify against him as he returns to a Manhattan court for his $10 million defamation trial.

The former president, 77, flew back to New York late Tuesday night after a campaign rally in New Hampshire to cap a whirlwind 24 hours since winning the Iowa caucus.

DailyMail.com caught him leaving Trump Tower early Wednesday morning with mysterious red cuts on his hand, hours after he braved a snowstorm to speak to supporters alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.

Carroll is scheduled to testify Wednesday in the second federal civil trial over her claims against Trump, all of which she denies.

Because the first jury found that Trump sexually assaulted Carroll in the 1990s and then defamed her in 2022, the new trial only concerns her because of some other comments. He made them while he was president.

Trump, who is combining court appearances with campaign stops as he leads the Republican field in this year's presidential race, took part in jury selection on Tuesday.

Trump's lawyer then claimed that Carroll has never been more famous and that she blames him for “some mean tweets from Twitter trolls.”

DailyMail.com caught him leaving Trump Tower early Wednesday morning with what appeared to be cuts on his hand

Meanwhile, Trump took to social media on Tuesday to say the case was nothing more than “fabricated lies and political shenanigans” that had earned his accuser money and fame.

“I am the only one hurt by this extortion attempt,” read a post on his Truth Social platform.

But Carroll, an advice columnist and magazine writer, has said Trump has deeply damaged her. First, she claims, he forced himself on her in a dressing room after a chance encounter at a luxury department store in 1996.

He then publicly questioned her honesty, her motives and even her sanity after she publicly told the story in a 2019 memoir.

“He repeatedly called me a liar, and it really decimated my reputation. I am a journalist. The only thing I need is the trust of the readers,” she testified in April during the first trial. “I am no longer believed.”

Carroll has insisted she has lost millions of readers and her longtime gig at Elle magazine, where her advice column “Ask E. Jean” ran for more than a quarter century, because of her accusations and Trump's response to them.

Elle has said that her contract was not renewed for unrelated reasons.

One of Carroll's attorneys, Shawn Crowley, said in her opening statement that the writer also received violent threats from Trump supporters.

Carroll is scheduled to testify Wednesday in the second federal civil trial over her claims against Trump, all of which she denies

Trump's lawyer Alina Habba walked with the former president to his motorcade to find their way to court

The former president, 77, flew back to New York late Tuesday night after a campaign rally in New Hampshire to cap a whirlwind 24 hours since winning the Iowa caucus.

Trump, who is combining court appearances with campaign stops as he leads the Republican field in this year's presidential race, took part in jury selection on Tuesday

In this courtroom sketch, E. Jean Carroll (right) turns to former President Donald Trump

Outside the Manhattan federal courthouse in New York, people hold signs supporting E. Jean Carroll's allegations

E. Jean Carroll watches as her lawyer Shawn Crowley opens the second civil trial after Carroll accused former US President Donald Trump of raping her decades ago

In this courtroom sketch, potential jurors enter the courtroom as Donald Trump, third from left, stands surrounded by his defense team. Alina Habba, fourth from left, Trump's lead lawyer, stands next to him. E. Jean Carroll, background second from right, stands with her lawyer Roberta Kaplan, Tuesday, January 16, 2024, in New York

Former US President Donald Trump, E. Jean Carroll and their lawyers represent the jury during jury selection

E. Jean Carroll arrives for her defamation trial against former President Donald Trump in New York Federal Court on January 16, 2024 in New York City

Trump attorney Alina Habba countered that Carroll wanted to hold the former president accountable for “some mean tweets from Twitter trolls.” He was “only defending himself” in his comments about his accuser, Habba said in her opening statement.

Trump claims that nothing ever happened between him and Carroll, and that he never even met her. There is a 1987 celebratory photo of them and their then-husbands, but Trump says it was a temporary greeting that “doesn't count.”

Trump did not attend the previous trial in the case last May, when a jury found that he had sexually assaulted and defamed Carroll and was awarded $5 million in damages. However, the jury found that Carroll had not proven her claim that Trump raped her.

Carroll is now seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and millions more in additional damages.