A federal appeals court recently denied former President Donald Trump’s request to re-evaluate his appeal concerning an $83 million defamation judgment linked to E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, comprised of 12 judges, did not support Trump’s motion, paving the way for him to take the matter directly to the Supreme Court.
Trump’s legal team has contended that he is protected by presidential immunity against Carroll’s allegations. This legal battle originated from a federal jury’s conclusion that Trump defamed Carroll by labeling her a liar in response to her claims of sexual assault in the 1990s.
Should Trump pursue this appeal regarding the $83 million verdict, this would mark his second encounter with Carroll in court, as he had already appealed a prior $5 million judgment in November 2025.
Carroll, a journalist and advice columnist, has filed two lawsuits against Trump following her 2019 publication, where she asserted he raped her in a dressing room back in 1996 at New York City’s Bergdorf Goodman department store—right across from Trump Tower. Trump has consistently refuted her allegations, dubbing her claims as fabrications from “a total fraudster” and asserting that she was “not my type.”
In an October 2022 post on Truth Social, Trump remarked, “I don’t know this woman and have no idea who she is, other than that she appears to have taken a photo of me and my husband shaking hands in the reception line at a celebrity charity event years ago.”
Trump’s repeated denials and remarks about Carroll led to her defamation lawsuit against him. In May 2023, a jury determined that while Trump was not liable for rape, he was guilty of sexual abuse and defamation, which resulted in Carroll being awarded $5 million in damages.
Currently, the Supreme Court is deliberating on whether it will take up the case.
