Appeals court upholds E. Jean Carroll’s $83.3 million defamation judgment against Trump

Trump President Donald Trump speaks at a hearing of the Religious Liberty Commission at the Museum of the Bible, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Alex Brandon/AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a civil jury’s finding that Donald Trump must pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for his repeated social media attacks against the longtime advice columnist after she accused him of sexual assault.

In a ruling issued Monday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s appeal of the defamation award, finding that the “jury’s damages awards are fair and reasonable.”

The $83.3 million defamation judgment was awarded by a civil jury over Trump’s repeated attacks on Carroll, who accused him of sexually assaulting her in a department store in the 1990s.

A separate jury also awarded Carroll in $5 million in a 2023 sexual assault and defamation verdict.

Trump’s lawyers had asked for a new trial.

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