The Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s request to reconsider its decision not to hear his appeal in the civil case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, leaving in place a $5 million judgment against him.
The dispute stems from a 2023 federal trial in New York, where a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and later defaming her. The jury awarded Carroll a total of $5 million in damages. Trump denied Carroll’s allegations and challenged the verdict through the appeals process.
On June 29, the Supreme Court declined to take up Trump’s appeal. His attorneys then filed a petition on July 8 asking the justices to rehear the matter. That request was denied Monday. Requests for rehearing are rarely granted by the Supreme Court, making the latest decision another significant setback in Trump’s effort to overturn the judgment.
Carroll received the $5 million award, along with accumulated interest, on July 13 after the available appeals in that case had been exhausted.
Carroll first filed the lawsuit in 2022. She alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at a New York department store in the 1990s and later defamed her when he publicly denied the accusation. Trump has repeatedly rejected her account, describing it as false and politically motivated.
The lawsuit was possible because New York enacted the Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily allowed people who said they had experienced sexual assault to file civil claims even when the usual statute of limitations had already expired. The law created a limited filing window for older claims that otherwise could not have been brought in court.
Trump and his supporters have criticized the timing and circumstances surrounding the case. Among other arguments, Trump has pointed to uncertainty over the exact date of the alleged encounter and has disputed details connected to Carroll’s account. Carroll has maintained that the assault occurred and has stood by her allegations.
The $5 million case is separate from another major defamation judgment Carroll won against Trump. In that case, a Manhattan jury in 2024 ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million, including $65 million in punitive damages and $18.3 million in compensatory damages.
Trump has also asked the Supreme Court to review that judgment. His legal team argues that statements he made while serving as president should have received greater protection under the doctrine of presidential immunity.
The attorneys have cited the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Trump v. United States, which recognized broad protections for certain official presidential acts. They argue that Trump’s public responses to Carroll’s accusations, including comments made while he was president and answering questions from reporters, should have been considered within that framework.
The lower courts did not accept that argument, and the $83.3 million judgment remains in place while Trump continues seeking Supreme Court review.
The justices are not expected to consider that separate petition until at least late September, when the court begins handling matters associated with its new term. Until then, the larger defamation award remains unresolved at the Supreme Court level.
The latest action applies only to the earlier $5 million judgment. By refusing to rehear Trump’s appeal, the Supreme Court has effectively allowed that verdict to stand, bringing that portion of the long-running legal fight between Trump and Carroll to a close.
