Writer E. Jean Carroll has officially received more than $5.6 million in damages following a long-running legal battle with President Donald Trump. The payment, which includes the original $5 million jury award from a 2023 civil trial plus accrued interest, was released from a court-controlled escrow account this week. The disbursement follows a series of unsuccessful appeals by the former president, culminating in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to decline hearing his challenge to the verdict.
The case stems from a 2019 memoir in which Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a New York department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. After Trump publicly denied the allegations and disparaged Carroll, she filed a defamation lawsuit. In 2023, a federal jury found Trump liable for both sexual abuse and defamation, awarding Carroll $5 million in damages. Trump had deposited the funds into an escrow account while he pursued various appeals to overturn the judgment.
Following the Supreme Court's refusal to intervene, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered the release of the funds. Although Trump’s legal team attempted to block the payment through emergency motions, those efforts were denied by the court. Carroll’s legal team confirmed the receipt of the payment, marking a significant milestone in a case that has spanned several years of litigation.
While this specific payment has been settled, legal disputes between the two parties remain ongoing. Trump is currently appealing a separate $83 million judgment awarded to Carroll in a different defamation case. The resolution of this $5.6 million payment provides a practical conclusion to the initial civil case, with Carroll’s representatives noting that the funds are intended for her retirement.