After years of bitter courtroom battles, repeated denials and unsuccessful appeals, United States President Donald Trump has, for the first time, paid damages to writer E. Jean Carroll following a landmark civil verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming her.
Court records show that Carroll has now received nearly $5.63 million, representing the original $5 million awarded by a federal jury in 2023 together with accrued interest, after a judge authorised the release of funds that had been held in a court-supervised escrow account pending appeals.
The payment follows the refusal of the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Trump’s appeal, effectively leaving intact the jury’s verdict and clearing the way for the money to be released. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the disbursement despite strenuous objections from Trump’s legal team, which argued that the funds should remain frozen while the President pursued further legal options.
The case stems from Carroll’s allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s before later defaming her by publicly dismissing her account as fabricated.
Although the 2023 jury concluded that Trump was liable for sexual abuse and defamation, it did not find that Carroll had proved the legal claim of rape under New York’s civil standard. The jury nevertheless awarded her $5 million in damages.
The latest payment marks the first time Trump has actually compensated Carroll, despite her winning civil judgments totalling $88.3 million against him over two separate lawsuits.
A second jury, in January 2024, awarded Carroll $83.3 million after finding that Trump continued to defame her through statements made while he was serving as President. That much larger judgment remains the subject of further appeals.
Trump has consistently denied Carroll’s allegations, insisting he never assaulted her and describing the lawsuits as politically motivated. Following the latest court order, his legal team again characterised the litigation as a “witch hunt” and accused political opponents of weaponising the justice system.
Before the funds were released, Trump’s lawyers unsuccessfully urged the court to delay payment, arguing that the President would suffer “irreparable harm” if Carroll disposed of the money before the legal process was fully exhausted. Carroll’s lawyers responded that the funds would remain in an interest-bearing retirement account, not be immediately spent or donated.
Carroll’s lead counsel, Roberta Kaplan, welcomed the development, saying the payment finally enforced a unanimous jury’s verdict holding Trump accountable for sexually abusing and defaming her.
Beyond the monetary award, legal analysts say the significance of the case lies in the principle it reinforces—that even a sitting President is not insulated from civil liability once the judicial process has run its course. After years of litigation, appeals and political controversy, the case has become one of the most consequential civil accountability decisions involving a serving American president in modern history.
