Three years after a jury found him liable, Trump finally paid.
After three years of appeals and legal maneuvering, a sitting American president has paid more than five million dollars to a woman a jury found he sexually abused and defamed — a moment that places the long arc of accountability at the center of public life. E. Jean Carroll, now 82, brought her allegations forward knowing the road would be long, and the Supreme Court's refusal to intervene closed the final door on Trump's resistance. The payment is not merely a financial transaction; it is a rare instance of the civil justice system completing its full journey against the most powerful office in the land.
- A three-year legal standoff finally broke when the Supreme Court declined to hear Trump's appeal, stripping away his last shield against payment.
- Trump had parked the $5 million in a court-controlled account during appeals, a delay tactic that ultimately added more than $600,000 in accrued interest to his bill.
- His legal team's repeated claims of political conspiracy and judicial misconduct were rejected at every appellate level, leaving their arguments without a court willing to listen.
- Carroll marked the moment publicly and defiantly, framing her victory not as personal vindication alone but as a win for women everywhere.
- A separate $84 million defamation judgment from 2024 looms unresolved, meaning the financial and legal reckoning for Trump is far from over.
Three years after a New York jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her, E. Jean Carroll has received more than $5.6 million in damages — the payment arriving only after the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal and a federal judge ordered it to proceed without further delay.
Carroll, a former magazine columnist now 82, accused Trump of assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan in the mid-1990s. She later alleged he defamed her in 2022 by publicly dismissing her account on his Truth Social platform. The 2023 jury sided with her unanimously, awarding $5 million; interest accumulated during the appeals process brought the final figure to $5.62 million.
Trump contested the outcome at every turn, depositing the funds into a court-controlled escrow while his lawyers argued the trial had been politically engineered and the presiding judge biased. A federal appeals court rejected those claims last year, and when the Supreme Court declined to intervene last month, the strategy collapsed entirely. His legal team offered no comment on the transfer.
Carroll greeted the news on her Substack with a declaration of victory she extended beyond herself — 'THIS WIN IS FOR EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD!' Yet the litigation is not fully behind her. A separate jury awarded her nearly $84 million in a 2024 defamation case, and Trump's appeal of that verdict remains active. Together, the two cases represent an extraordinary moment: a sitting president facing civil financial accountability on a scale without precedent in American legal history.
Three years after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming her, President Donald Trump has finally paid E. Jean Carroll more than $5.6 million in damages. The money arrived on Tuesday, according to a statement from Carroll's legal team, after the Supreme Court declined to hear Trump's appeal and a federal judge ordered the payment to proceed immediately.
Carroll, now 82, is a former magazine columnist who accused Trump of attacking her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan sometime in the mid-1990s. She later said he defamed her in 2022 when he posted on his Truth Social platform denying her allegations. A New York jury unanimously sided with her in 2023, awarding her $5 million in damages. With interest accrued during the three-year appeals process, the total came to $5.62 million.
Trump had fought the payment every step of the way. After the jury verdict, he deposited the money into a court-controlled account while his legal team pursued appeals, hoping to convince higher courts to overturn the decision. Last month, when the Supreme Court declined to consider his case, that strategy collapsed. A federal judge then ordered him to pay Carroll directly. Trump's lawyers had no comment on the transfer.
Throughout the legal battle, Trump's team characterized the case as politically motivated. They called it a "hoax" and a "witch hunt" funded by Democrats, and they repeatedly argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the civil trial, had improperly admitted evidence that prejudiced the jury. A federal appeals court rejected those claims last year, affirming both the jury's verdict and the judge's conduct of the trial.
Carroll responded to the Supreme Court's refusal to hear Trump's appeal with a post on her Substack blog: "WE WON!" She added, "THIS WIN IS FOR EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD!" The payment represents vindication of her allegations after years of litigation, though she faces an ongoing legal battle in a separate case. In 2024, another jury found Trump liable for defaming her in a different instance and awarded her nearly $84 million. Trump is still appealing that verdict, and a panel of federal judges denied his appeal last year. The two cases together represent an unprecedented financial reckoning for a sitting president in civil defamation litigation.
Citações Notáveis
Today, we are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict.— Roberta Kaplan, Carroll's lawyer
WE WON! THIS WIN IS FOR EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD!— E. Jean Carroll, in a post on her Substack blog
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did it take three years for Trump to actually pay the money?
He kept fighting it. After the jury verdict in 2023, he put the money in a court account and appealed, hoping to get the whole thing overturned. He asked the Supreme Court to reconsider, but they said no. Once that door closed, the judge ordered him to pay.
What was his legal argument for why he shouldn't have to pay?
His lawyers said the judge admitted evidence unfairly, that the trial was rigged against him. They called it a witch hunt funded by Democrats. But the appeals court looked at all that and said no—the judge did his job right, the jury's verdict stands.
So Carroll won twice—two separate cases?
Yes. The first one, the 2023 case, was about the assault allegation and his social media post denying it. That's the $5.6 million he just paid. The second case, in 2024, was about a different defamation statement. That jury awarded her $84 million. He's still fighting that one.
What does it mean that the Supreme Court declined to hear it?
It means they looked at his request and decided the case didn't raise questions important enough for them to take on. It's the end of the road for appeals in this particular case. The money had to be paid.
How did Carroll react?
She posted on her blog: "WE WON!" and said the victory was for every woman. After three years of fighting, she got what the jury said she deserved.