Judge rescinds permission for Trump to give his own closing argument at his civil fraud trial

Donald Trump won't make his own closing argument in his New York civil business fraud trial after his lawyers objected to the judge's insistence that the former president would stick to “relevant” matters.

Judge Arthur Engoron rescinded permission on Wednesday, a day ahead of closing arguments in the trial.

The trial could cost Trump hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties and strip him of his ability to do business in New York. His lawyers had signalled on Thursday that he planned to take the extraordinary step of delivering a summation personally, in addition to arguments from his legal team.