Supreme Court Delivers Humiliating Defeat to Donald Trump in E. Jean Carroll Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

The US Supreme Court has delivered Donald Trump a final defeat in his bid to overturn E. Jean Carroll's $5 million (£3.69 million) civil judgment, rejecting the president's request to reconsider its earlier refusal to hear his appeal. The unsigned order, issued on Monday, gave no explanation, leaving the 2023 jury verdict intact.

The justices had already declined to hear Trump's appeal in June. His latest request was an attempt to reopen that decision, but the Supreme Court rarely grants such requests. Monday's order therefore closes Trump's route to challenge the $5 million judgment.

The verdict found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a Manhattan department-store dressing room in the mid-1990s and for defaming her in 2022. Carroll has since received approximately $5.63 million (£4.16 million), including interest, meaning the financial award has also been paid.

The decision does not end every legal dispute between Trump and Carroll. The Supreme Court is separately considering Trump's appeal of an $83.3 million (£61.52 million) defamation judgment arising from statements he made about Carroll in 2019.

Supreme Court Closes $5m Appeal

Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her at Bergdorf Goodman in New York in 1995 or 1996. In 2023, a federal jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.

The jury did not find Trump liable for rape. That distinction is important because the case was civil rather than criminal: Trump was not convicted of a crime, but was found legally liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

Trump denied Carroll's account and challenged the verdict, arguing that the trial judge had improperly allowed evidence of other alleged sexual misconduct to be presented to jurors. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected those arguments and upheld the judgment in December 2024.

Trump then asked the Supreme Court to intervene. The justices declined to hear the appeal in June 2026, and Monday's order rejected his subsequent request for reconsideration.

Why the Jury Found Trump Liable

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance argued in a recent Substack essay that the Supreme Court's refusal carries significance beyond the money awarded to Carroll.

Vance wrote that the jury's finding that Trump sexually abused Carroll and later defamed her now remains in place after his efforts to overturn it failed. Her assessment provides commentary on the wider significance of the ruling, rather than a new judicial finding.

The defamation claim stemmed from Trump's public denials of Carroll's allegations. Carroll had described the alleged assault in her 2019 memoir, What Do We Need Men For?, and Trump responded by publicly calling her account false and attacking her credibility.

Those statements became central to Carroll's defamation case. The 2023 jury ultimately found Trump liable for defaming her.

Carroll Receives $5.63m Award

The financial consequences of the verdict have already been settled.

In July, Carroll received approximately $5.63 million from Trump, including interest on the original $5 million award. The payment followed a decision by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan to release funds that had been held while Trump pursued his appeal.

That means Monday's Supreme Court order was not about whether Trump still had to pay the award. Instead, it removed his final avenue for challenging the verdict in that particular case.

Separate $83.3m Case Continues

The Supreme Court's latest action should not be confused with the separate $83.3 million defamation judgment against Trump.

That award came from a different jury trial involving Trump's 2019 statements about Carroll while he was president. Trump is now asking the Supreme Court to overturn that judgment, arguing that presidential immunity protects him from liability for those statements.

The separate case means Trump's broader legal battle with Carroll is not completely over.

But his challenge to the $5 million verdict is now finished. The Supreme Court has twice refused to intervene, Carroll has received the award with interest and the 2023 jury's findings remain intact.

For Carroll, the result is both financial and legal: she has been paid, and the verdict finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation can no longer be challenged through the Supreme Court.