Trump's $5 Million Payment

A Seven-Year Legal Battle Reaches Its Final End

E. Jean Carroll first went public with her allegations in June 2019. She said Trump assaulted her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan around 1996. She filed the lawsuit that led to this verdict — known as Carroll II — in November 2022. It was made possible by New York's Adult Survivors Act, a law that let victims file old sexual assault claims even after the normal deadline had passed, according to Levante-EMV.

A Manhattan jury ruled against Trump on May 9, 2023. He appealed. The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict on December 30, 2024. Trump's legal team then asked the Supreme Court to step in. On November 10, 2025, they filed their formal petition. On Monday, the court said no, according to Diario de Ibiza.

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Trump's Team Argued the Trial Was Unfair

Trump's lawyers focused their appeal on how the trial was run. They argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan made a key error. He allowed jurors to hear the 2005 Access Hollywood tape, where Trump was recorded boasting about groping women. He also allowed testimony from two other women — Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff — who accused Trump of similar behavior. Trump's team said this was prejudicial and illegal under federal evidence rules, according to La Opinión de Málaga.

Trump's lawyers also argued the case was

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Carroll Still Faces a DOJ Investigation as Trump Owes $88 Million Total

Monday's ruling does not end the legal drama entirely. Trump still faces the separate Carroll I case, where a jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in January 2024 for defamation tied to statements he made while in the White House in 2019. That case is still being appealed. The Supreme Court's refusal to help Trump in the $5 million case weakens his legal position in the larger one, according to Diario de Mallorca.

At the same time, reports indicate the Trump-led Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Carroll herself. Critics call it a retaliatory move using federal resources to punish a political opponent. Carroll's legal team has pushed back, saying the jury's 2023 verdict was supported by solid evidence, according to LNE.

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A Historic First for a Sitting U.S. President

This marks the first time in U.S. history that a sitting president has run out of appeals in a case finding him liable for sexual abuse. Trump called the whole process a