E Jean Carroll has asked a federal judge to order Donald Trump to pay the $5m she is owed from a jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing her in the 1990s and defaming her after she went public in 2019. The filing in Manhattan federal court came one day after the US Supreme Court declined to hear Trump's appeal of the 2023 civil case verdict.
Carroll seeks immediate payment with interest
Carroll's lawyers argue that Trump is unjustly delaying payment, which has grown to nearly $5.8m with interest. They wrote that the court should require the sum to be disbursed by the Republican president. Trump has continued to attack Carroll, 82, and made further defamatory remarks even as he asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision, announced on Monday.
Trump reacted on Truth Social, writing: "Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to ‘review’ a Fake Case brought against me." He promised to keep fighting what he called a "Weaponization and Lawfare Case".
Background of the case
The jury reached its verdict in a trial Trump did not attend. Carroll testified that Trump sexually abused her in spring 1996 in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan, after a chance encounter turned violent. She first described the attack publicly in a 2019 magazine article, while Trump was president. He repeatedly denied knowing her and accused her of political motives.
Carroll's lawyers said Trump's legal team contacted them minutes after the Supreme Court's action, asking for a delay while the court is asked to reconsider. But Carroll's lawyers, Roberta Kaplan, D Brandon Trice and Maximilian T Crema, stated in their Tuesday filing: "To date, Carroll has agreed to each of defendant’s many requests to delay the payment he owes her. Given the extraordinary lengths he has taken to avoid such payments and that each of those efforts has been denied in full, that cooperation ends today. It is time for him to pay Carroll."
Trump also appeals $83m defamation award
Trump is also appealing $83m in defamation compensation from a separate Manhattan jury after a January 2024 trial. The Supreme Court's decision came after a three-judge panel at the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict in 2024, rejecting Trump's arguments that the trial was unfair because the judge let jurors hear evidence of his past sexual misconduct. In 2025, Trump asked the Supreme Court to review the case, but Carroll's lawyers urged the justices to reject the request.
Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
