Donald Trump’s attempt to undo one of the costliest defamation verdicts in U.S. history has been rejected. A federal appeals court in Manhattan refused to toss out the $83.3 million award granted to writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused the former president of wrecking her reputation after she went public with a decades-old sexual assault claim.
The panel of judges dismissed Trump’s argument that presidential immunity should have shielded him from liability. Instead, they criticized his relentless barrage of attacks on Carroll, which only grew “more extreme and frequent” as the case neared trial. The court labeled the level of misconduct “remarkably high, perhaps unprecedented.”
This isn’t Trump’s first courtroom loss to Carroll. In 2023, another jury ordered him to pay her $5 million after finding him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. That verdict stood firm after appeal earlier this year.
The staggering $83.3 million figure was divided into $18.3 million for emotional and reputational harm, and $65 million in punitive damages. Judges said the award was justified, pointing to Trump’s pattern of malice, deceit, and a campaign of personal attacks stretched over years.
Trump has denied Carroll’s account since 2019, infamously dismissing her with the line: “She’s not my type.” He has framed his mounting legal defeats as political warfare, a narrative he carried into his successful 2024 campaign. His lawyers vowed he will continue fighting what they call “Liberal Lawfare.”
But the rulings keep stacking up. Beyond Carroll’s cases, Trump faces the fallout from a criminal conviction for falsifying records tied to a sex scandal and a civil fraud finding in New York. While he avoided prison and succeeded in having a half-billion-dollar penalty overturned, his legal battles show no sign of slowing.
Carroll, now 81, recently published Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President, chronicling her courtroom clashes with Trump. Her legal team says they are eager to see the appeals process finally close, allowing justice to stand.
