The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Donald Trump seeking to overturn a 2023 jury verdict that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation of writer E. Jean Carroll. The justices declined to hear the case without comment, leaving in place the lower court's ruling.
The case stems from a May 2023 trial in which a Manhattan jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the mid-1990s and defaming her in 2022. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages. Trump had argued the trial was unfair due to evidentiary rulings by the judge, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict in December 2025.
Trump's legal team had asked the Supreme Court to review whether the trial judge improperly allowed testimony from other women who accused Trump of similar conduct. The high court's decision not to take up the appeal means the verdict and damages stand.
Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, has said the incident occurred in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room. Trump has denied the allegations and said he never met Carroll, though a photo from the 1980s shows them together at a social event.
