Trump Verdict Stands
Supreme Court Declines Trump's Appeal, Upholding $5 Million E. Jean Carroll Verdict
Key Points
The Supreme Court issued a brief, unexplained order denying review, leaving the $5 million Carroll verdict intact without an accompanying opinion.
Trump lawyer Justin D. Smith wrote that 'This mistreatment of a President cannot be allowed to stand' in filings, and Smith has since been nominated by Trump to the federal appeals court.
Carroll’s side argued the testimony of two other women was properly admitted and relevant to show a pattern, with Roberta Kaplan saying the question is 'not worthy of review.'
Trump did not attend the 2023 trial and his lawyers called no witnesses, according to reports on the defamation case record.
In addition to the $5 million verdict, Trump faces a separate defamation verdict totaling more than $83 million (issued in January 2024), and he indicated he may seek Supreme Court review of both cases.
The Supreme Court declined on June 29, 2026 to hear President Donald Trump's appeal of a $5 million jury verdict finding he sexually assaulted and defamed writer E. Jean Carroll, according to AP News. The Court issued a brief, unexplained order — standard for a denial — leaving the judgment intact after Trump exhausted every appellate option below.
The ruling closes the door on Trump's challenge to the 2023 trial verdict, which found him liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump still faces a separate $83.3 million defamation verdict, and experts say today's denial makes that appeal harder to win, according to The Guardian.
How a 1996 Dressing Room Became a Decade-Long Legal Fight
Carroll alleged Trump assaulted her at a Manhattan luxury department store in 1996. She stayed silent for over two decades. New York's Adult Survivors Act — a one-year window that reopened civil claims blocked by the statute of limitations — let her sue in November 2022, according to CBS News.
A federal jury took just three hours to reach its verdict in May 2023. Ten witnesses testified for Carroll. Trump's team called none. The jury awarded $2 million for sexual abuse and $3 million for defamation, totaling $5 million, according to Washington Post.
Trump's Legal Team Argued the Trial Was Rigged by Inflammatory Evidence
Trump's core argument was that the trial was unfair. His lawyers said the judge wrongly let jurors hear testimony from two other accusers — Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff — plus Trump's own words from the 2005 Access Hollywood tape, according to Courthouse News.
Trump attorney Justin D. Smith wrote in filings that the 'mistreatment of a President cannot be allowed to stand.' The Second Circuit rejected that argument, ruling that the law 'permits a jury to consider evidence of a different sexual assault precisely to show that a defendant has a pattern,' according to PBS.
Carroll's Team Calls It a Final Win; $83 Million Case Looms Next
Carroll's lead attorney Roberta Kaplan had argued the case was 'not worthy of review.' After the Court's order Monday, Carroll's team called the ruling a final victory for the 'rule of law,' according to CBS News. Trump posted a $5.5 million cash deposit to pursue the appeal; that money will now likely be released to Carroll.
A separate jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in January 2024 for defamatory statements Trump made in 2019. The Second Circuit upheld that verdict in September 2025. The Supreme Court's refusal to touch the $5 million case puts Trump in a difficult position as he weighs a separate petition on the larger award, according to The Guardian.
Trump's Carroll Attorney Is Now Headed to a Federal Appeals Court
Trump nominated Justin D. Smith — the same lawyer who argued the Carroll appeal — to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in February 2026, according to Ballotpedia. Senate Democrats called it 'judicial cronyism.' The Senate voted 47-43 to advance his nomination on June 12, 2026, according to Legis1.
Trump has not issued a formal White House response to Monday's order. He has historically described the Carroll cases on Truth Social as 'Witch Hunts.' Legal analysts say the Court's silence — no justice noted a dissent from the denial — signals no appetite to revisit the evidentiary questions Smith raised, according to AP News.
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