A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump to release $5.8 million to writer E. Jean Carroll on Wednesday, finalizing a civil judgment from a 2023 jury verdict that found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan directed the release of the money from a court escrow account, along with accrued interest, after the Supreme Court refused last week to hear Trump’s appeal of the award. The order came hours after Trump’s attorneys made a last-minute request to delay the payment, arguing the case was still technically before the Supreme Court.
The underlying jury verdict came in May 2023, when a federal jury in Manhattan found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in 1996 and later defaming her when he denied her allegations. The jury awarded her $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The amount grew to $5.8 million with interest as the case moved through appeals over the past three years.
Carroll first made her abuse allegations public in 2019, saying the encounter occurred in the dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store after a chance meeting. Trump has maintained he does not know Carroll and did not commit any wrongdoing. He continued to deny the allegations after the 2023 verdict, posting on social media that day he would “continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case.”
Carroll’s attorneys noted that Trump’s own legal team had agreed in 2023 that the money could be released if the Supreme Court refused to hear the case—an agreement the judge had previously signed off on. In their court filings, Carroll’s lawyers argued Trump was attempting “to buy time so he can try to concoct some new basis to put off paying Plaintiff.”
Trump’s attorneys had contended that the payment freeze should remain in effect while they pursue a long-shot request for the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision. They argued that Carroll, who is 82, “faces only temporary delay” while Trump “faces unrecoverable loss” if she distributes the funds to others, as she has said she intends to do.
Judge Kaplan rejected this reasoning, noting that Carroll had already waited long enough. The ruling marks the end of a legal battle that has stretched across three years of appeals and two separate trials—Carroll also won an $83.3 million defamation judgment against Trump in a 2024 trial, though that case remains under appeal.
Sources
- NBC News — Judge Kaplan’s order, the Supreme Court’s rejection of Trump’s appeal, and Trump’s attorneys’ arguments for delay
- The Guardian — Judge’s order releasing funds and the Supreme Court appeal rejection
- AP News — Original 2023 jury verdict finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation
- Reuters — Court authorization for Carroll to collect the $5 million award
- BBC — Judge’s order and the underlying verdict details
