New York, New York - Former president Donald Trump's fourth attempt to delay the original defamation lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019 — before the one he lost at trial in May — was resoundingly rejected by a Manhattan judge Friday.

Trump requested to put the case on ice while he pursues an appeal of a decision by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, which rejected his argument that statements he made about Carroll from the White House were protected by presidential immunity.

Kaplan said it was another example of delay tactics.

"This case was largely stalled for years due in large part to Mr. Trump’s repeated efforts to delay, which are chronicled in the Court’s prior decisions," Kaplan wrote. "Mr. Trump’s latest motion to stay – his fourth such request – is yet another such attempt to delay unduly the resolution of this matter."

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The case headed to trial in January is one of a vortex facing the former president as he seeks the White House once again.

In May, Carroll won $5 million in her first case against Trump. The author had accused the former reality TV star of sexually assaulting her inside a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996 and defaming her when she accused the former president of raping her years later.