Donald Trump Pays E Jean Carroll $5.62 Million in Sexual Abuse, Defamation Case

US President Donald Trump has paid writer E Jean Carroll more than $5m (£3.7m) in damages, three years after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming her in a civil case.

"Today, we are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict," Roberta Kaplan, Carroll's lawyer, said in a short statement on Tuesday.

Trump had sought to delay the payment while asking the US Supreme Court to reconsider its decision not to hear his appeal. However, last week, the judge overseeing the case ordered him to pay the damages. A representative for Trump's legal team declined to comment.

Carroll's legal team said she received more than $5.62m, comprising the $5m damages awarded by the jury and the interest accrued during the appeal, BBC reports.

Civil case stemmed from 1990s assault allegation

Carroll, a former magazine columnist who is now 82, alleged that Trump attacked her in the mid-1990s in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. She also accused him of defaming her through a 2022 post on his Truth Social platform denying her allegations.

In 2023, a New York jury unanimously awarded Carroll $5m in damages. Trump denied the allegations and deposited the amount into a court-controlled account shortly after the verdict, where it remained during the appeals process.

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Appeals rejected, separate case continues

Trump's lawyers criticised the ruling requiring the payment, describing the case as a "hoax" and "Witch Hunt" which they alleged had been funded by Democrats. Trump also repeatedly argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan had improperly admitted evidence that prejudiced the jury against him.

A federal appeals court upheld the jury's verdict last year, ruling that Kaplan had not made errors warranting a new trial. The US Supreme Court declined to hear Trump's appeal last month, clearing the way for Carroll to receive the money.

Carroll welcomed the decision on her Substack blog, writing: "WE WON!"

"THIS WIN IS FOR EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD!" Carroll wrote.

Trump is also appealing a separate 2024 jury verdict that found him liable for defaming Carroll in another instance and awarded her nearly $84m. A federal appeals panel rejected that appeal last year.