The money has been held in escrow since 2023 when a jury found Trump had sexually abused and defamed the former Elle magazine columnist. The judge said Trump had been stalling the case and that it was time to pay up.
A US court has ordered that writer E. Jean Carroll be paid $5.8 million (€5 million) in damages, years after a jury found US President Donald Trump guilty of sexually assaulting and defaming her.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan ruled that the money, which had long been held in escrow, be released to the former Elle Magazine columnist.
“Defendant has been stalling this case for years,” Kaplan wrote, detailing his decision. “It is time for him to ‘do equity’ and pay the judgment,” the memorandum read.
This comes after the US Supreme Court refused to hear Trump’s appeal against the original verdict in 2023, which ordered him to pay $2 million in damages for sexual assault and $3 million for defamatory statements.
The remaining $800,000 is interest accrued.
The 82-year-old first accused Trump of assaulting her in a New York City department store in a memoire published in 2019. Trump was serving his first term as president at the time.
He had accused her of making false allegations, denied having known her and said “she’s not my type” in an interview.
Trump attempts to block payment
Lawyers representing the US president said they would continue to appeal and claimed the verdict was part of a political conspiracy.
“The American people stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes,” a spokesperson said in a statement following Kaplan’s order.
In appellate papers, they argued that Kaplan’s decision should not be executed since Trump had asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision.
Late on Wednesday, a judge of the US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their request to stop the money from being transferred.
“Carroll has waited more than three years for a jury’s verdict to be paid. She should not have to wait any longer,” Carroll’s lawyers wrote in a filing with the appellate court.
“It is time this case comes to an end,” they wrote.
Trump is also appealing an $83.3 million payment verdict in a defamation case granted to Carroll by a different Manhattan jury in 2024.
Edited by: Natalie Muller
DW News
