Donald Trump's long-awaited reckoning has finally reached its crunch point as author E. Jean Carroll demands the immediate payment of £3.7m in damages awarded to her by a New York jury. This significant development follows the US Supreme Court's decision to reject Mr Trump's application to review the civil case, effectively exhausting one of his final avenues for appeal in this particular judgment.
The demand for payment was lodged just a day after the Supreme Court's ruling, which has left the former US President with little scope for further manoeuvre. In May 2023, a New York jury found Mr Trump liable for sexually assaulting Ms Carroll in the mid-1990s and subsequently defaming her by branding her claims a 'hoax' on social media. With accumulated interest, the total sum now stands at approximately £4.5m.
Lawyers representing Ms Carroll stated that they had previously agreed to all of Mr Trump's requests to delay the payment of damages. However, their latest legal filing indicates a shift in strategy, signalling an end to cooperation and a determination to bring this long-running case to a close. "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," Ms Carroll's legal team wrote.
Ms Carroll, an 82-year-old former magazine columnist, accused Mr Trump of attacking her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan. She later claimed he defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post where he denied her allegations. Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed that the presiding judge, Lewis Kaplan, improperly allowed evidence that prejudiced the jury against him.
Following the Supreme Court's decision, Mr Trump reiterated his denial on Truth Social, describing Ms Carroll's accusations as a "lie." He posted, "Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to 'review' a fake case brought against me," vowing to continue fighting against what he termed a "weaponization and lawfare case," including the "ridiculous claim of defamation." Ms Carroll's lawyers have included this recent post in their new court filings, suggesting it further demonstrates Mr Trump's ongoing defamation.