The United States Supreme Court has turned down U.S. President Donald Trump’s appeal for the second time, refusing to review a $5-million US judgment awarded to E. Jean Carroll after a jury found Trump responsible for sexually assaulting and defaming the former magazine columnist. Trump’s legal team argued that the trial was unjust, but the justices declined to reconsider their previous decision from June regarding the 2023 jury verdict related to allegations of assault in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s.
In a separate case, the court is also considering Trump’s appeal of an $83.3-million US jury verdict for defamation in 2019, during his first term as president, when he denied the accusations made by Carroll. Trump’s lawyers claim that presidential immunity should protect him from Carroll’s claims, and they assert that lower courts incorrectly ruled against him on this matter.
The ongoing legal battle between Trump and Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, began when Carroll accused Trump of raping her around 1996 in a Manhattan department store dressing room. Trump has consistently denied these allegations, calling them a “hoax” and a “con job” in social media posts in 2022. Although the jury in the $5-million US verdict case found Trump guilty of sexual abuse and defamation against Carroll, they did not find evidence to support Carroll’s claim of rape.
After the Supreme Court’s rejection of Trump’s appeal, Carroll received nearly $5.63 million US from Trump, which includes the original $5-million US verdict plus interest. Trump’s legal team raised concerns about the impact of the issue of presidential immunity on both the $83.3-million US verdict case and the 2023 jury verdict. The Supreme Court previously ruled in a significant 2024 decision that former presidents have complete immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken during their presidency within their core constitutional powers, though the Carroll cases are civil lawsuits.