Donald Trump pays E. Jean Carroll $5.6 million in sexual abuse case

Donald Trump pays E. Jean Carroll $5.6 million in sexual abuse case

President Donald Trump has paid more than $5.6 million to writer E. Jean Carroll after a jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. According to court records made public on 14 July 2026, the funds were released from a court-held account on 9 July, one day after Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the payment.

The disbursement follows a 29 June decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to deny Trump's request to hear his appeal. Judge Kaplan, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, stated in his 8 July order that Trump has been stalling this case for years and that it was time for him to do equity and pay the judgment.

The specific amount transferred to Carroll was $5,625,005.48, which includes the original $5 million jury award plus interest. The money had been held in a court-controlled bank account through the court’s registry investment system (Cris), which functions as an escrow agent. Under the terms agreed upon by both legal teams, the funds were to be released upon certain legal developments, including a Supreme Court refusal to hear an appeal.

"Three years ago, a unanimous nine-person jury found President Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll. Today, we are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict,"

Roberta Kaplan, attorney for Carroll, via statement

The legal battle began after Carroll, a former advice columnist and author, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in 1996. She testified that Trump cornered her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue in New York and forcibly penetrated her with his fingers. These allegations first appeared in her 2019 memoir, What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal.

During the 2023 civil trial, which Trump did not attend, a New York jury determined that a preponderance of evidence supported the claim of sexual abuse, though they cleared him of a separate rape charge because digital assaults did not legally constitute rape under New York law at that time. New York updated its rape law to include such attacks in September 2024. The jury also found that Trump defamed Carroll by claiming she fabricated the story to sell books and stating she wasn’t his type.

Trump has consistently denied the allegations. He previously claimed he had never met Carroll and, in an October 2022 Truth Social post, stated he would have no interest in knowing her if given the chance. A spokesperson for Trump's legal team described the proceedings on 14 July as a Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes and asserted that the president would keep winning against Liberal Lawfare.

This payment precedes a much larger financial obligation. In a separate 2024 trial, a jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million for additional defamatory statements Trump made while he was president. That award includes:

• $65 million for defaming Carroll out of hatred, ill will, or spite
• $11 million to help rebuild her reputation
• $7.3 million for pain and suffering

Trump has posted a $91.6 million bond, guaranteed by a subsidiary of the insurance company Chubb, to cover this second judgment and interest while he pursues further appeals. Although the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that verdict in September 2025, Trump is currently urging the Supreme Court to overturn the penalty. His lawyers have also asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its June ruling regarding the initial $5.6 million payment.

Carroll, who is 82, previously served as a journalist and advice columnist for Elle Magazine for nearly 30 years. She also hosted a television show, Ask E. Jean, from 1994 to 1996.