Appeals court says Trump doesn’t have to pay $83 million to E. Jean Carroll — for now
PBS NewsHour – Politics — 2026-05-12 15:36:00 — www.pbs.org
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump won’t have to pay an $83 million defamation award to a longtime advice columnist until the U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance to review the case or reject an appeal, according to a court entry Tuesday.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to a request by one of Trump’s lawyers that it let the president delay the payment to E. Jean Carroll, though it required that Trump post a $7.4 million bond to cover any additional interest costs, a request Carroll’s attorney had made. The appeals court late last month refused Trump’s request for a rare meeting of the full 2nd Circuit to hear an appeal of a three-judge panel’s affirmance of the January 2024 verdict.
Afterward, Trump attorney Justin D. Smith asked the 2nd Circuit to stay the effect of its decision upholding the award so that Trump would not be forced to pay the judgment before the high court has a chance to consider an appeal. Smith said last week there was a “fair prospect” that the Supreme Court will find in favor of Trump, who has called Carroll’s claims first made publicly in 2019 that she was sexually attacked by Trump in a Manhattan luxury department store dressing room in spring 1996 a “made up scam.”
The $83 million award to Carroll, 82, came from a jury that briefly heard Trump testify and observed his animated behavior for several days. In upholding the verdict, a 2nd Circuit panel wrote last September that Trump continued his attacks against Carroll for at least five years, making them “more extreme and frequent as the trial approached.” “He also continued these same attacks during the trial itself,” the appeals court said. “In one such statement, issued two days into the trial, Trump proclaimed that he would continue to defame Carroll ‘a thousand times.'”
The jury had been instructed to accept the findings of a jury that in May 2023 awarded Carroll $5 million after concluding Trump sexually abused her in the department store and then defamed her after she published her account of it in a 2019 memoir. Trump is challenging the $83 million award on several grounds, asserting “absolute immunity” for comments he made while president as he disavowed knowing Carroll and attacked her motivations, saying they were politically driven or arose from a desire to promote her memoir.
### How this sits against verifiable accuracy
Trump has claimed that E. Jean Carroll’s allegations of sexual assault are a “made up scam.” The excerpt indicates that Trump has consistently denied knowing Carroll and has attacked her motivations for coming forward with her allegations, suggesting they are politically driven or aimed at promoting her memoir.
### What the excerpt shows about verifiable lies
The excerpt highlights Trump’s statement during the trial where he proclaimed that he would continue to defame Carroll “a thousand times.” This statement underscores the ongoing nature of his attacks against her, which were deemed extreme and frequent by the appeals court.
### Targets and tone
The excerpt shows Trump speaking in a hostile manner towards E. Jean Carroll, labeling her claims as a “made up scam” and continuing to defame her throughout the trial.
In summary, the legal battle surrounding Trump’s defamation case against E. Jean Carroll continues as he seeks to delay payment of the substantial judgment against him while asserting his claims of immunity and disputing the allegations made against him.