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Trump’s Supreme Court Bid Over E. Jean Carroll Verdict Rejected Again: $5 Million Judgment Now Stands
The US Supreme Court has refused to reconsider Donald Trump’s appeal in the E. Jean Carroll case, leaving the $5 million civil judgment intact while a separate $83.3 million appeal remains pending.
Donald Trump has suffered another legal setback after the US Supreme Court rejected his request to reconsider its earlier refusal to hear his appeal in the E. Jean Carroll case.
The court’s latest decision, issued on Monday, effectively closes Trump’s Supreme Court challenge to the $5 million civil judgment awarded to Carroll in the case. The justices provided no explanation for the decision, which is typical when the Supreme Court denies a request for rehearing.
The ruling comes after the Supreme Court had already declined to hear Trump’s appeal in June. His latest petition had asked the justices to reconsider that decision a rarely successful move.
Supreme Court shuts the door on Trump’s $5 million appeal
The case stems from allegations made by Carroll, a writer and former magazine columnist, who said Trump sexually assaulted her at a Manhattan department store in the 1990s.
A federal jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her through statements he made in 2022. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The jury did not find Trump liable for rape under the specific legal standard used at trial.
Trump has consistently denied Carroll’s allegations and has challenged the verdict through the courts.
His legal team took the case to the Supreme Court after lower courts upheld the judgment. When the justices declined to hear the appeal earlier this year, Trump sought a second look.
That effort has now failed as well.
Trump has already paid the judgment
The Supreme Court’s earlier refusal meant Trump was required to satisfy the judgment while his legal battle continued.
According to Reuters, Carroll has received more than $5.6 million, including interest that accumulated on the award.
The latest Supreme Court decision therefore does not simply represent another procedural defeat for Trump — it leaves the underlying $5 million judgment in place after his attempts to overturn it at the nation’s highest court.
But Trump still has another Carroll case pending
The latest ruling does not end every legal battle between Trump and Carroll.
A separate case involves an $83.3 million defamation judgment against Trump over statements he made about Carroll in 2019, while he was serving as president.
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That case raises different legal questions, including Trump’s argument that presidential immunity should protect him from liability for statements made while he was in office.
The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether it will hear Trump’s appeal in that case. The decision could come later in 2026.
Why the two cases are different
Although both lawsuits involve Carroll and Trump’s public statements about her allegations, they concern different sets of statements and legal proceedings.
The $5 million case involved the 2023 jury verdict concerning sexual abuse and Trump’s 2022 statements.
The separate $83.3 million case concerns defamatory statements Trump made in 2019, while he was president.
That distinction is important because Trump’s legal team is pursuing a presidential-immunity argument in the second case — an issue that was not at the centre of the Supreme Court’s latest rejection.
Another major legal blow for Trump
The latest decision adds to a long-running legal fight that has followed Trump for years.
The Supreme Court’s order itself contained no detailed reasoning, but such denials are routine and do not normally include an explanation.
For Carroll, the practical result is straightforward: the $5 million verdict remains intact and Trump’s effort to have the Supreme Court reconsider that particular case has reached its end.
Trump’s separate challenge over the much larger $83.3 million judgment, however, means the broader legal dispute between the former president and Carroll is not completely over.
For now, one part of the battle is settled — and Trump’s latest attempt to reopen the $5 million case has been turned away by the nation’s highest court.
