Trump ordered to pay $83.3M

A New York federal jury ordered Donald Trump on January 26, 2024, to pay writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her with statements he made in 2019 while he was president. The verdict came in Manhattan after a damages trial that followed an earlier civil case in which another jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the mid-1990s and for defaming her in 2022. The $83.3 million award was separate from the earlier $5 million judgment. Trump denied Carroll’s allegation and attacked her credibility, while Carroll’s lawyers argued that years of public insults had damaged her reputation and left her fearing for her safety. ### Why was there a second Carroll trial if a jury had already ruled before? A May 2023 jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and for defaming her in statements he made in 2022, awarding her $5 million. That verdict did not resolve a separate defamation claim tied to comments Trump made in June 2019 after Carroll first went public with her accusation. (politico.com) Judge Lewis Kaplan later ruled that the 2023 verdict established key facts for the 2019 defamation case, including that Trump’s denial was false and defamatory. That meant the January 2024 trial focused on how much Trump should pay, not on whether he was liable. ### What did the $83.3 million cover? (caselaw.findlaw.com) The January 2024 jury awarded Carroll $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages, according to reports on the verdict. Carroll’s lawyers had argued that Trump used one of the world’s biggest platforms to keep attacking her even after earlier court findings went against him. (law.justia.com) Politico and AP reported that jurors deliberated for less than three hours before reaching the award. The size of the punitive portion reflected the jury’s conclusion that a substantial penalty was needed after Trump’s repeated public statements about Carroll. ### What exactly had Trump been found liable for? (politico.com) The 2023 civil verdict found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, not for a criminal offense. In the later case, the court treated the earlier findings as established for purposes of the 2019 statements, so the damages jury did not retry Carroll’s underlying accusation. (politico.com) The distinction matters because both Carroll cases were civil proceedings in federal court. The judgments involved money damages, and Trump retained the right to seek post-trial relief and appeal. ### What happened after the verdict? Judge Kaplan rejected Trump’s bid for a new trial and declined to set aside the verdict, according to court coverage published after the January 2024 award. (caselaw.findlaw.com) Trump then pursued an appeal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit later described the procedural path of the two Carroll cases, noting that one jury awarded $5 million and another awarded $83.3 million. (law.justia.com) By 2025, appellate rulings had left the core findings against Trump intact in the Carroll litigation. (courthousenews.com) ### Where does the case stand now? As of late May 2026, The New York Times reported that the two monetary judgments against Trump in Carroll’s cases were still moving through the legal system and could ultimately reach the Supreme Court. CourtListener’s docket for the 2019 defamation case shows filings continuing into 2026. (law.justia.com) The next steps remain in the appellate process. Any further review would come through the federal courts, with Trump and Carroll still the named parties in the Second Circuit and, potentially, the Supreme Court. (nytimes.com)