The United States Supreme Court has declined to hear Donald Trump’s appeal against a $5 million jury award in a sexual abuse and defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, effectively leaving the verdict in place and bringing one part of the long-running legal battle to a close.
The decision, issued on Monday without explanation, follows the Court’s standard practice when it rejects appeals. It means a 2023 New York jury finding against Trump remains valid.
That jury concluded that Trump sexually abused Carroll in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury department store in Manhattan, in 1996. It also found that he defamed her in 2022 when he publicly dismissed her allegations as a hoax.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, described the Supreme Court’s refusal to take up the case as a final affirmation of the jury’s unanimous decision, saying it upheld the findings of sexual assault and defamation.
Trump, however, continues to deny the allegations. Reacting on his social media platform Truth Social, he called the case “fake” and claimed it was politically motivated, insisting he had never met Carroll. His legal team also described the lawsuit as part of ongoing “lawfare” against him and said he would continue to challenge the outcome.
Trump’s appeal had already been rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which found no serious legal errors in the original trial that would justify a retrial. His lawyers had argued that improper evidence was allowed, including testimony from other women who accused him of similar conduct, as well as the 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording in which he made lewd remarks.
The $5 million award is one of two major civil judgments Carroll has won against Trump. In a separate case in 2024, a jury awarded her $83.3 million in damages for further defamatory statements. That ruling has also been upheld on appeal but remains subject to further legal proceedings.
Together, the two judgments bring Trump’s potential liability in the Carroll cases to roughly $88 million, including interest.
Carroll, a former advice columnist, first publicly detailed her allegations in 2019. At the time of the initial jury verdict in 2023, Trump was a private citizen. By the time appellate courts reviewed the case, he had returned to the presidency.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene adds to a series of recent decisions in which it has declined to block civil judgments involving Trump, leaving lower court rulings to stand as his broader legal challenges continue to unfold.
