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A federal appeals court on September 8, 2025, denied President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn an $83.3 million jury verdict against him for damaging writer E. Jean Carroll’s reputation in 2019 when he denied her rape claim.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected Trump’s argument that the January 2024 verdict should be overturned due to presidential immunity from Carroll’s lawsuit. The same court had previously upheld Carroll’s separate $5 million jury verdict against Trump for similar defamation and sexual assault claims in May 2023.
Carroll, 81, a former Elle magazine columnist, accused Trump of attacking her around 1996 in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room. Trump first denied the accusation in June 2019, telling a reporter that Carroll was “not my type” and that she had concocted the story to sell her memoir “What Do We Need Men For?” He repeated these comments in an October 2022 Truth Social post.
The $83.3 million award included $18.3 million for emotional and reputational harm and $65 million in punitive damages. Trump argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s July 2024 decision providing him with substantial criminal immunity shielded him from liability in Carroll’s civil case. He also contended that he spoke about Carroll in his capacity as president, and that failing to immunize him could undermine the independence of the Executive Branch.
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Trump further argued that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan made other mistakes during both trials, including by striking his testimony that speaking about Carroll was “just a defense for myself, my family, and frankly, the presidency.”
In June 2025, Carroll released another memoir, “Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President,” detailing her legal battles against Trump.
