The Supreme Court Monday declined to take up an appeal from President Donald Trump over a $5 million verdict and finding that he sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll, a decision that means the president will now have to pay the magazine columnist.
Carroll sued Trump in 2019 for defamation and then she sued him again in 2022 for defamation and battery after New York enacted a law allowing the victims of sexual abuse to file civil claims for past incidents. In an unusual quirk, the second case — the one filed in 2022 — went to trial first and the jury awarded Carroll $5 million.
The 2019 case went to trial second and resulted in an $83 million judgment against Trump. Including interest, Trump owes Carroll over $100 million in all.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll,” Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said. “His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions.”
Carroll’s 2022 lawsuit alleged that he sexually assaulted her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s and defamed her by claiming she made up the story to boost sales of a book. Trump, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, has claimed US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the civil trial, made numerous errors by allowing the jury to hear testimony from two women who alleged Trump sexually assaulted them years ago.
Trump also argued that the judge should not have let the jurors see the “Access Hollywood tape,” which captured Trump in 2005 on a hot mic saying he gropes and kisses women.
“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. 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 was heard saying on the recording.
A spokesman for the president’s legal team said in a statement Monday, that the “American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes.”
“President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again,” the statement went on.
Last year, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s $5 million verdict against Trump, ruling the trial judge did not make errors that would warrant a new trial. In June 2025, Trump lost an effort to have the appeal reviewed by the full bench of judges and, months later, he appealed to the Supreme Court.
“It is deeply damaging to the fabric of our republic for President Trump, in the midst of a historic presidency, to have to take his focus away from his singular and unique duties as chief executive to continue fighting against decades-old, false allegations and the myriad wrongs throughout this baseless case,” the president’s attorneys told the Supreme Court in a January filing. “This mistreatment of a President cannot be allowed to stand.”
The appeal was delayed for months at the Supreme Court, which repeatedly set it for discussion and then rescheduled that discussion. As always, the court did not explain its reasoning for the hold up. Trump’s attorneys are expected to appeal the $83 million verdict to the Supreme Court in coming days.
In a technical brief at the Supreme Court dealing with rules of evidence, Carroll’s attorneys focused largely on the 2nd Circuit decision upholding the verdict.
“The court’s duty was simply to decide whether a jury could reasonably find by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Trump committed an act of sexual assault,” a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit, all three of whom were appointed by Democratic presidents, ruled unanimously. “If it could so find, the court had the discretion to admit the evidence.”
Trump transferred $5.5 million to a court-controlled account in 2023 following the jury verdict so Carroll is likely to receive the cash relatively quickly.
Carroll’s lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
This story was updated with more information.
