New York state's highest court on Thursday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's latest bid to avoid potentially having to answer questions under oath in a defamation lawsuit by a former contestant on his television show "The Apprentice."

The state's Court of Appeals dismissed Trump's request to halt Summer Zervos' lawsuit for calling her a liar after she accused him of sexual misconduct.

It said the underlying ruling from which Trump was appealing was not a final ruling, warranting the appeal's dismissal.