Former U.S. President Donald Trump has paid more than 5.6 million dollars to writer E. Jean Carroll following a court order enforcing a jury award in a sexual abuse and defamation case.
The payment, totalling 5,625,005.48 dollars, includes the original five million dollars awarded by a jury and accrued interest.
The funds were transferred after U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan authorised the release of the money, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to grant Trump’s request to halt the payment while he pursued further legal remedies.
Court records showed that the payment was transferred to Carroll’s legal representatives and that the 82-year-old author intends to place the money in an interest-bearing account pending the final resolution of Trump’s remaining legal petitions.
In a statement, Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said the payment marked the conclusion of a major phase of a legal battle that began three years ago.
“Three years ago, a unanimous nine-person jury found President Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll. Today, we are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict,” Kaplan said.
Trump’s legal team, however, is continuing efforts to challenge the enforcement of the judgment.
His lawyers have asked a federal appeals court to return the funds to judicial escrow while his broader appeal proceeds, although the appellate court has yet to rule on the latest request.
The legal dispute stems from Carroll’s allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
Trump denied the allegation throughout the proceedings, describing the claims as false and politically motivated.
In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded Carroll five million dollars in damages.
The case expanded after Trump repeated his denials and criticised Carroll during a televised CNN town hall, prompting her legal team to amend an earlier defamation lawsuit.
A second jury later awarded Carroll 83 million dollars in damages over Trump’s subsequent defamatory statements.
Trump’s lawyers are expected to file another petition before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that presidential immunity should shield him from the judgments.
The latest payment does not affect the separate 83 million-dollar defamation award, which remains the subject of ongoing legal proceedings.
