US President Donald Trump has been forced to pay out over £5.6 million in damages to writer E. Jean Carroll, three years on from a New York jury finding him liable for sexually abusing and defaming her. The substantial payment includes the initial £5 million awarded by the jury in 2023, along with accrued interest, which Ms. Carroll's lawyers confirmed was released this week following a court order.
The decision marks a significant blow to Mr. Trump's efforts to evade accountability for his alleged actions. Despite actively seeking to delay the payment, he has been ordered to release the funds after the US Supreme Court refused last month to hear his appeal of the case. The money had been held in a court-controlled account since the original verdict.
Ms. Carroll, an 82-year-old former magazine columnist, first accused Mr. Trump of assaulting her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. She further alleged that he defamed her in a post on his Truth Social platform in 2022, where he denied her accusations. The allegations have been consistently denied by Mr. Trump, who claims they are part of a "hoax" and a "witch hunt" motivated by politics.
A federal appeals court upheld the jury's initial verdict last year, concluding that the presiding judge, Lewis Kaplan, had not made errors warranting a new trial. The Supreme Court's refusal to intervene has exhausted Mr. Trump's avenues for delay, paving the way for Ms. Carroll to receive the awarded damages.
This payment addresses one of two civil cases brought by Ms. Carroll against Mr. Trump, with a second case ongoing in which he is appealing a 2024 jury decision finding him liable for defaming her and awarding nearly £84 million in damages. A panel of federal judges denied his appeal in that case last year.