Federal judge orders payout: Trump must pay five million dollars to E. Jean Carroll

Carroll had accused Trump of sexually abusing her in 1996 in a fitting room at the New York luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman. The allegations were made public in her book in 2019, after she had told no one about them for years beforehand. In the book, she described the encounter with the businessman, who, according to her account, surprised her in a store cubby, pressed her against the door, and sexually assaulted her.

When the allegations were published in the book, Trump called Carroll "crazy" and accused her of lying. These public statements later led to a separate defamation lawsuit, which ultimately ended in another damages award.

The 2023 verdict in detail

In the civil case in Manhattan federal court, the jury in May 2023 awarded Carroll a total of five million dollars. Of that, two million dollars was for the assault itself and three million dollars was for Trump's subsequent defamatory statements about Carroll. There was no criminal prosecution, since the allegations dated back to 1996 and New York's civil statutes of limitations at that point appeared to have already been exhausted.

Trump denied the allegations throughout and commented publicly on them repeatedly. He called Carroll not credible and claimed the encounter had never taken place. The jurors, however, followed Carroll's account and found Trump liable both on the sexual abuse claim and for the subsequent defamation.

Following the verdict, Trump appealed, arguing that the trial had not been fair. The appeal was rejected, however, and the U.S. Supreme Court also declined to take up the case for review. This made the 2023 verdict final and enforceable.

Supreme Court declination

Judge Kaplan, who had already presided over the original trial, has now ordered the payout of the deposited amount to Carroll. According to the information available, this consists of the five million dollars Trump was required to deposit with the court at the start of the case as security. Added to this are accrued interest, the precise amount of which has not been specified.

In a second, separately conducted defamation case in a New York federal court, Trump was additionally ordered to pay 83.3 million dollars to Carroll. This sum is made up of compensatory and punitive damages for the continued public attacks on Carroll. This verdict was also upheld on appeal.

The second defamation case

Enforcement of the 83.3-million-dollar judgment, however, remains suspended for the time being. The details of this further payment are not yet known. Kaplan's order expressly concerns only the initially deposited amount of five million dollars.

Trump faces no political or criminal consequences at this point. The cases concern only civil claims. Neither impeachment proceedings nor a criminal trial are connected to the Carroll cases.

Carroll worked for many years as a columnist for Elle magazine and also became known in the 1990s through other books. After the allegations against Trump, she became a prominent figure in the public debate about how to handle allegations of sexual assault.

Kaplan's payout order concludes a years-long legal dispute that had already begun before Trump's first presidential candidacy in 2015. It is regarded as formal confirmation of Trump's civil liability in the matter.

Significance of the order

Legal observers see the order as significant primarily in symbolic terms. Although five million dollars is a comparatively small amount for Trump, the formal payout to Carroll marks the first concrete transfer of assets in a case in which Trump was personally held liable for sexual misconduct.

Whether the 83.3 million dollars from the second case will actually flow to Carroll as well depends on the further course of the proceedings. According to reports, Trump's legal team is continuing to explore possible ways to delay or reduce enforcement.

Overall, the cases demonstrate that the American judiciary can enforce damages claims arising from personal misconduct even against a former president. Carroll herself had said after the 2023 verdict that the recognition by a court had mattered more to her than the financial compensation.

Outlook on the further proceedings

With Kaplan's payout order, this part of the dispute is now formally concluded. The matter of Carroll, however, will continue to accompany the public debate about the civil liability of politicians and public figures.

In conclusion, it can be said that Kaplan's recent decision, while it does not establish any new substantive claim, does seal the execution of the first Carroll verdict. One of Trump's most prominent civil convictions thus takes final effect.

Reactions from Trump's circle to the payout order were initially restrained. His team of attorneys announced that the matter would continue to be examined through legal channels, but did not comment on concrete further steps with respect to the 83.3 million dollars from the second case.