WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has reached the end of the legal road in his effort to overturn a $5 million verdict awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll.
The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a request from Trump asking the justices to rethink their earlier rejection of his appeal. The court issued its decision without an explanation or any noted dissents, keeping with standard practice that has seen no rehearing request granted since the 1960s. Representatives for Carroll stated that the former Elle magazine columnist already received the $5 million payment in July.
The origin of the $5 million award goes back to a federal trial in 2023. A jury determined that Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll inside a Manhattan department store dressing room during the 1990s.
The same jury held him liable for defaming Carroll in a 2022 social media post. In that post, Trump attacked her claims by calling them “a Hoax and a lie” and writing, “This woman is not my type!”
While this specific case is now closed, Trump is still fighting a separate $83.3 million defamation judgment awarded to Carroll in 2024. That penalty stemmed from a second trial regarding comments Trump made in 2019 when he first denied her abuse allegations.
Trump maintains his innocence and denies all wrongdoing. His legal team filed a pending petition asking the high court to take up an appeal of that larger judgment.
In his active appeal, Trump argues that his 2019 statements about Carroll were made as part of his “official” duties as president, making them immune from use in civil court against him. Justices are set to decide whether to hear that case later this year.
