Despite having experienced a turbulent time in his legal tussle with E. Jean Carroll so far, Donald Trump has found some monetary relief in the lawsuit following a recent ruling. A federal appeals court recently accepted his plea to delay the $83 million defamation payment due to Carroll until further notice from the Supreme Court.
Donald Trump spared from paying $83M to E. Jean Carroll
On May 12, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that the President can hold off paying millions in damages to the veteran journalist until the Supreme Court decides if it will intervene in the lawsuit or not.
The verdict comes after Justin D. Smith, a member of Donald Trump’s legal team, filed an official request for the same, as per AP News. The appeals court had notably turned down his petition to conduct a meeting of the full 2nd Circuit in a bid to review the January 2024 verdict of his lawsuit against E. Jean Carroll. However, the court also accepted a counter-appeal from her lawyer, which demanded that Trump post a $7.4 million bond to cover any subsequent interest costs.
Carroll had initially sued the Republican Party leader for sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996. With Trump refuting all of her claims, she later filed a defamation lawsuit against him. The jury eventually ruled in Carroll’s favor, instructing him to pay Carroll a sum of $83 million.
Moreover, a 2nd Circuit panel upheld the verdict in September 2025, claiming that the businessman-turned-politician hadn’t backed away from attacking E. Jean Carroll. The appeals court noted, “He also continued these same attacks during the trial itself. In one such statement, issued two days into the trial, Trump proclaimed that he would continue to defame Carroll ‘a thousand times.’”
Notably, Donald Trump continues to deny all wrongdoing in the matter. Additionally, Justin D. Smith has publicly stated that there is a “fair prospect” that the Supreme Court will rule in the President’s favor, provided the judicial entity decides to intervene.
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on Mandatory.
