Trump's request to delay the E. Jean Carroll case is denied, paving the way for a January trial.

• On Friday, a U.S. federal judge rejected former President Donald Trump's fourth attempt to postpone the trial date in a defamation lawsuit against him brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.
• A trial is set to commence in January, following the ruling that clears the way for it.

A U.S. federal judge on Friday rejected former President Donald Trump's fourth attempt to postpone the trial date in a defamation case against him brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.

Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court ruled in a 17-page order that Trump's request for a stay in the case, which was based on an appeal of a previous ruling from the same court, did not meet the criteria for a delay to typically be granted.

The Iowa caucus in January will likely see the beginning of the trial, with Trump aiming to win in a crowded Republican presidential primary field.

The trial is scheduled to commence on Monday, January 15, which coincides with the first-in-the-nation presidential nominating contest in Iowa. However, a federal holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, also falls on the 15th next year.

If the current timeline remains unchanged, the trial in federal district court in the Southern District of New York is expected to commence on January 16.

In 2019, Trump was sued for defamation by Carroll, who was 79 at the time, after he made public statements denying her allegations of sexual assault in a department store in the mid-1990s.

Trump denied ever meeting Carroll and accused her of using the allegation to sell books, suggesting she was a Democratic party operative.

In 2022, Carroll sued Trump under a different statute, accusing him of both sexual abuse and defamation.

Earlier this year, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her in a 2022 lawsuit, and ordered him to pay her $5 million. Trump is currently appealing that verdict.

The judge in the 2019 case refused to dismiss the suit based on Trump's last-minute claim of presidential immunity, prompting a separate appeal. Trump appealed the ruling and requested a trial delay while the appeal was ongoing.

In Friday's ruling, Kaplan deemed Trump's appeal "frivolous" and his request to postpone trial "weak."

Trump's lawyer did not promptly respond to CNBC's request for comment.

This story is breaking news and will be updated.