Topline
The more than $5 million that President Donald Trump owed writer E. Jean Carroll was paid out Monday, court filings show, after Trump unsuccessfully and repeatedly challenged the jury verdict finding him liable for defamation and sexual assault and tried to delay the payment.
Key Facts
A payment of $5,625,005.48 was disbursed to Carroll and her attorneys on Monday, a court filing shows, after a federal judge rejected Trump’s effort to further delay the payment.
A jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in 2023—plus interest that’s since accrued on that amount—finding him liable for assaulting Carroll in the 1990s and then defaming her after she went public with the allegations.
That payment has been tied up in the years since as Trump has tried to appeal the ruling, with an appeals court repeatedly rejecting his case and the Supreme Court refusing to hear it.
After the Supreme Court rejected the case, Carroll’s attorneys notified the court that Trump was still trying to delay paying Carroll, claiming the president was still considering asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision—something the high court does in only the rarest of cases.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan rejected that effort to pause the ruling last week, noting Trump “has been stalling this case for years,” and an appeals court rejected the president’s last-ditch effort to stall the payment, though the funds will stay in Carroll’s account and should not be spent while Trump asks the Supreme Court to reconsider the case.
Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan said in a statement she was “pleased to report that [Carroll] has received the damages payment the jury awarded her,” while Trump’s legal team decried the Carroll litigation as a “hoax” and said the president “will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare.”
What to Watch for
Trump can still try to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision not to take up the case, though it’s unlikely the justices will change their minds. “Successful filings are extremely rare birds,” Judge Kaplan noted in his ruling ordering the funds to be paid out.
How Much Does Trump Still Owe E. Jean Carroll?
A jury also ordered the president to pay Carroll $83.3 million plus interest in a separate defamation case. That payment has not yet been disbursed and Trump is still in the process of appealing the judgment against him. His lawyers have signaled they intend to ask the Supreme Court to hear the other Carroll case, after an appeals court refused to overturn the eight-figure judgment, but nothing has yet been filed.
Forbes Valuation
Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $6.3 billion as of Tuesday morning, making the $5.6 million he sent Carroll only a tiny fraction of his overall wealth.
Key Background
Carroll alleges Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman’s dressing room in the 1990s, which she first publicly alleged in 2019. Trump has broadly denied Carroll’s allegations and has repeatedly attacked the writer, saying after her allegations were first made public that Carroll was not “my type.” Carroll swiftly sued Trump for defamation in response, filing a lawsuit that ultimately resulted in the $83.3 million judgment. The $5 million case was actually brought second, under New York’s Adult Survivors Act that allowed civil claims in cases where the statute of limitations had expired. The litigation went to trial first as the $83.3 million case got tied up in court, however, resulting in a jury ruling against Trump in May 2023. The jury found Trump liable for defamation and assault, but did not find him liable for rape. That verdict was then used in the initial case when it went to trial in January 2024, with the jury only having to determine how much Trump had to pay Carroll, and not whether he defamed her. Trump has continued attacking Carroll even as he’s been ordered to pay her millions for his statements, and Carroll’s attorneys have not ruled out bringing further litigation.
Trump Could Be Forced To Pay E. Jean Carroll $5 Million ASAP As Judge Speeds Up Case (Forbes)
Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Request To Take Up E. Jean Carroll Case (Forbes)
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