Donald Trump suffered a huge legal blow in his long-running war against E Jean Carroll. His latest hope of a US appeals court in New York City agreeing to rehear an earlier ruling against him has been dashed by that court’s refusal. This ruling again upheld a $5 million damages award against Trump for defamation in his attacks on Carroll. The decision comes as Trump implements his big-picture strategy of appealing 11 separate legal entanglements concerning a pattern of behavior involving sexual misconduct.
In that trial, which concluded earlier in 2023, a civil jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll. The jury additionally determined that in 2022, he defamed her by calling her claims a hoax. Throughout this trial, jurors were confronted with the now-famous 2005 Access Hollywood video, in which Trump bragged about how he groped women. Donald Trump’s legal team did everything they could to keep that video from being played. They argued it prejudiced the jury against him inappropriately.
Trump’s jury was told about his alleged abuse of two other women—which made Trump’s already steep uphill battle of a defense even steeper. More than two dozen women over the years have come forward to accuse Trump of sexual assault. These allegations make his character and credibility suspect.
So, despite these allegations of serious crimes, Trump has repeatedly and adamantly denied all allegations leveled against Trump since day one. He called Carroll’s allegations groundless and insisted she was “not my type.” These comments were a central element of his defense at trial. He’s now facing an appeal on an $83 million jury judgment. This award is specifically related to his defamatory comments directed at Carroll when he first denied her claims in 2019.
In his most recent appeal, Trump is using a very surprising Supreme Court ruling that gave presidents wide-ranging legal immunity to stave off responsibility. Yet he claims that this ruling should protect him from liability in the Carroll case as well. The appeals court was unmoved by their arguments. Indeed, it was a 2-1 divided opinion — with the two Trump appointees on the panel dissenting from the majority’s ruling.
Should Trump prevail, he would be 79 on Inauguration Day. While he continues to fight his legal troubles on the front lines, he remains deeply embedded in political circles. After defeating Hillary Clinton for the presidency and subsequently losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump reclaimed political victory in 2024, beginning a second term earlier this year.