The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to avoid paying the $5.6 million he had been ordered to award to former magazine writer E. Jean Carroll.
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This is Trump’s latest legal setback in his lengthy court battle with Carroll. After the Supreme Court declined to hear the president’s appeal in June, his lawyers asked the justices to reconsider the case, but the court has now rejected that request as well.
The decision was issued without any expressed dissent from the justices.
In compliance with an order from a lower court, Trump has already paid the $5.6 million. In a court filing, Carroll’s lawyers said the money would remain in an interest-bearing account until Trump’s request for reconsideration was resolved.
The legal battle began in 2019, when Carroll sued Trump for defamation. She filed another lawsuit in 2022, this time alleging sexual abuse and defamation, after New York passed a law allowing victims of sexual abuse to bring civil lawsuits over incidents that had occurred years earlier.
Although it was filed second, the 2022 case went to a jury first. Trump was found liable, and Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages.
The 2019 defamation lawsuit was tried later and resulted in a much harsher verdict against Trump, with an $83 million damages award. That separate case is still awaiting review by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court accepts requests to reconsider its decisions only in rare cases.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team criticized the decision and said the president would continue his fight against what he described as a “witch hunt” and “Lawfare” funded by Democrats.
According to Carroll’s allegations, Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York store in the mid-1990s. She also said he later defamed her by claiming that she had fabricated the story to boost book sales.
Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations. He has also claimed that federal Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the civil trial, made several errors that affected the jury’s decision.
Among Trump’s lawyers’ objections was the admission of testimony from two women who had claimed that the president had sexually assaulted them years earlier. They also objected to the playing at trial of the recording known as “Access Hollywood,” in which Trump was heard making vulgar comments about women.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the $5 million verdict last year. It concluded that the trial judge had made no errors that could justify holding a new trial.
In June 2025, Trump also failed in his effort to have the case reviewed by the full panel of Second Circuit judges. He then turned to the Supreme Court, which rejected the appeal in June of this year.
With its latest decision, the Supreme Court has ended Trump’s attempt to reopen this part of his legal dispute with E. Jean Carroll. Meanwhile, the other case, involving the $83 million damages award, remains pending before the court.
