Former U.S. President Donald Trump has paid writer E Jean Carroll more than $5 million in damages after a New York jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The payment, confirmed by Carroll’s lawyers, settles a civil suit that began in 2023 when the jury unanimously awarded her the damages.
Trump tried to delay the payment in hopes of persuading the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling that declined to hear his appeal. A judge, however, ordered the funds be released from the court‑controlled account within weeks. Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan said the payment was “now official” and added that the total exceeded $5.62 million, including interest accumulated during the appeal.
Carroll, now 82, alleged the abuse took place in a Bergdorf Goodman department‑store dressing‑room in Manhattan in the mid‑1990s. In 2022 she accused Trump of defaming her on his Truth Social platform with a post denying her claims. The 2023 verdict cleared Carroll’s core allegation, while a separate appeal Trump filed over a defamation verdict that had previously awarded her nearly $84 million has been denied by federal judges.
Carroll celebrated the ruling on her Substack blog, calling the decision “a win for every woman in the world.” Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team has described the case as a “hoax” and a witch‑hunt, though the courts have consistently upheld the jury’s findings.
