The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear President Donald Trump’s appeal seeking to overturn a $5 million verdict awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll, leaving intact a jury’s finding that he sexually abused and defamed her.
In a decision issued Monday, the justices refused to review Trump’s challenge to the 2023 civil verdict, effectively allowing a lower court ruling that upheld the judgment to stand.
The case stemmed from Trump’s 2022 social media posts in which he dismissed Carroll’s allegations as a “hoax” and a “con job,” prompting Carroll to sue him for defamation. A federal jury in Manhattan found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the mid-1990s and for defaming her, awarding her $5 million in damages. The jury did not find him liable for rape, as Carroll had alleged.
Trump argued that the trial was unfair because the judge allowed jurors to hear testimony about other allegations of sexual misconduct and the infamous Access Hollywood recording, which his legal team said was unrelated and prejudicial.
However, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict in 2024, ruling that the evidence demonstrated a pattern of conduct consistent with Carroll’s claims. The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case leaves that ruling in place.
Carroll first accused Trump publicly in 2019, alleging he assaulted her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan around 1996. Trump has consistently denied the allegations, claiming Carroll fabricated the story for political and financial gain.
The legal battle between the two continues. In a separate defamation case, a federal jury in 2024 ordered Trump to pay Carroll $83.3 million for statements he made in 2019 denying her allegations. An appeals court upheld that verdict in 2025.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony connected to the civil lawsuits, according to disclosures made earlier this year.
The Supreme Court’s decision marks another legal setback for Trump, leaving one of the most significant civil judgments against him firmly in place.
