Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Final Appeal, Leaving $5 Million E. Jean Carroll Judgment Intact
High Court Declines to Hear Case, Exhausting Trump’s Legal Options in First Carroll Verdict
The U.S. Supreme Court dealt President Donald Trump another significant legal defeat on Monday, declining to hear his final appeal of the $5 million civil judgment awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll. The Court’s brief order leaves intact the decisions of both the federal trial court and the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, effectively ending Trump’s legal challenge in the first of two major civil cases brought by Carroll. Because the Supreme Court declined to review the case, the 2023 jury verdict stands, making the judgment final. Trump had already placed approximately $5.5 million into a court controlled account while the appeals process played out.
Trump’s Bid to Overturn the Verdict Falls Short
Trump’s attorneys argued that the trial was fundamentally unfair and asked the nation’s highest court to throw out the verdict. Among their primary arguments were claims that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan improperly allowed jurors to hear testimony from two additional women who accused Trump of past sexual misconduct, as well as the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood recording in which Trump discussed women in explicit terms. Trump’s legal team also argued that the litigation created an undue distraction from his responsibilities as president. The Supreme Court offered no explanation for declining the appeal, which is standard practice when denying a petition for review. None of the justices publicly dissented from the decision.
Carroll’s Legal Team Declares Victory
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, praised the decision, saying it finally brings an end to years of litigation over the first case.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll,” Kaplan said in a statement. “His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions.”
The jury in the original trial found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the mid-1990s inside a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan. Although the jury did not find that Carroll proved rape under New York’s legal definition, it concluded Trump sexually abused her and later defamed her by publicly denying her allegations. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
A Second, Much Larger Judgment Remains Under Appeal
Monday’s Supreme Court action applies only to the first civil judgment. Trump is separately appealing an $83.3 million defamation verdict awarded to Carroll in January 2024. That case stems from statements Trump made in 2019 while serving as president in which he denied Carroll’s allegations and attacked her credibility. His attorneys continue to argue that those statements should be protected by presidential immunity. That appeal remains pending in the federal court system and has not yet reached the Supreme Court.
Another Setback for Trump at the Supreme Court
The ruling represents another instance in which the Supreme Court has declined to deliver the outcome Trump sought in a high profile case. While the Court’s conservative majority has issued several landmark decisions aligned with conservative legal priorities in recent years, including rulings on abortion, administrative power, and gun rights, it has also ruled against Trump in several cases involving his personal legal matters.
Legal scholars have frequently noted that Supreme Court justices serve lifetime appointments and are institutionally independent, meaning their rulings do not necessarily align with the political interests of the presidents who nominated them. Monday’s decision reinforces that distinction, leaving Trump’s first civil judgment in the Carroll litigation fully intact while the larger $83.3 million case continues through the appeals process.
Trump Responds
Trump criticized the ruling on Truth Social shortly after the order was released.
“Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to review a Fake Case brought against me,” Trump wrote, calling the lawsuit politically motivated and claiming it represented an attack on the country rather than simply a legal dispute over Carroll’s allegations.
Despite Trump’s criticism, the Supreme Court’s decision effectively closes the book on the first Carroll judgment, leaving the $5 million award final and enforceable while attention now shifts to the appeal of the separate $83.3 million verdict.
