Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll $5 million after Supreme Court denies his appeal of sexual abuse verdict
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s appeal of a $5 million verdict, finding that Trump sexually harassed and defamed E. Jean CarrollIt’s a decision that means the president must now pay the magazine columnist.
Carroll sued Trump for defamation in 2019, and then sued him again for defamation and battery in 2022, after New York enacted a law allowing sexual abuse victims to file civil lawsuits over past incidents. In an unusual twist, the second lawsuit, filed in 2022, went to trial first, and the jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
The case in 2019 was tried for the second time and resulted in a verdict of $83 million against Trump. Trump owes Carroll more than $100 million in total, including interest.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision unequivocally affirms the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll,” said Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan. “His numerous efforts to appeal this decision have all failed, and today’s decision puts an end to his quest to avoid taking responsibility for his actions.”
Carroll’s 2022 lawsuit alleged that he sexually assaulted her at a New York store in the mid-1990s and slandered her by claiming he made up the story to increase sales of a book. Trump, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, has claimed that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the civil case, made numerous errors by allowing the jury to hear testimony from two women who claimed Trump sexually assaulted them years ago.
Trump also argued that the judge should not have allowed jurors to see the trial. “Access the Hollywood tape,He caught Trump saying on a hot mic in 2005 that he was fondling and kissing women.
“You know, I’m automatically attracted to beauty. I start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss them. I don’t even expect it. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,… Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything,” Trump is heard saying in the recording.
“The American People stand with President Trump in demanding an immediate end to all Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoaxes,” a spokesman for the president’s legal team said in a statement Monday.
“President Trump will continue to win against Liberal Law while remaining focused on his mission to Make America Great Again,” the statement said.
Last year, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury’s $5 million verdict against Trump and ruled that the trial judge did not make errors that would warrant a new trial. In June 2025, Trump lost his effort to have the appeal reviewed by a full panel of justices and appealed to the Supreme Court months later.
“It is deeply damaging to the fabric of our republic that, in the midst of a historic presidency, President Trump has to shift his focus away from his singular and unique duties as chief executive to continue fighting against decades of false allegations and countless falsehoods in this baseless lawsuit,” the president’s lawyers said. he told the Supreme Court in a January filing. “This mistreatment of the president cannot be allowed to continue.”
The appeal was delayed for months in the Supreme Court; The court brought the matter up for discussion several times, and the discussion was later rescheduled. As always, the court did not explain the reason for the postponement. Trump’s lawyers are expected to appeal the $83 million decision to the Supreme Court in the coming days.
In a technical briefing on the rules of evidence at the Supreme Court, Carroll’s lawyers focused largely on the 2nd Circuit decision that upheld the decision.
“The court’s duty was to decide whether the jury could reasonably find, based on a preponderance of the evidence, that Mr. Trump committed an act of sexual assault,” the 2nd Circuit’s three-judge panel, all appointed by Democratic presidents, unanimously said. “The court had discretion to admit the evidence if it could find it so.”
Trump transferred $5.5 million to a court-controlled account in 2023 following the jury verdict, so Carroll is likely to receive the money relatively quickly.
Carroll’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
This story has been updated with more information.
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