- Trump petitions Supreme Court to overturn a $5M verdict from E. Jean Carroll, claiming politically motivated, uncorroborated accusations.
- He faces bigger legal exposure—an $83M award upheld—and other civil judgments, betting the conservative-shaped court will reverse course.
President Donald Trump has escalated one of his longest-running legal battles, formally petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out a $5 million verdict that held him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E. Jean Carroll back in the 1990s.
This move comes as Trump, now in his second term, continues to fight multiple civil judgments on several fronts, even as his administration racks up wins and losses at the nation’s highest court on everything from tariffs to food stamps.
But this personal case hits different—it’s about allegations that date back decades, and Trump’s team is arguing it’s all politically motivated nonsense that never should have seen a courtroom.
The FrankNez Media Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.
The Core of Trump’s Appeal: “No Evidence, Just Politics”
In the filing reported Monday, Trump’s lawyers didn’t hold back. “There were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, and no police report or investigation,” the appeal states plainly.
They paint Carroll as someone who “waited more than 20 years to falsely accuse Donald Trump, who she politically opposes, until after he became the 45th president, when she could maximize political injury to him and profit for herself.”
That’s the crux: Trump has always denied the claims outright, calling them a fabrication for fame or revenge.
Carroll says Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in New York City sometime in the late ’90s—she can’t pin down the exact date, which Trump’s side hammers as a red flag.
A New York jury in 2023 didn’t buy Trump’s denials. They found him liable not for rape under the strict legal definition, but for sexual abuse and defamation, slapping him with $5 million in damages.
That verdict has bounced through appeals courts ever since, with judges upholding it time and again.
Not the Only Carroll Headache—There’s an $83 Million Bomb Too
If you think $5 million sounds steep, buckle up.
This isn’t even the biggest Carroll-related hit Trump has taken. A separate jury nailed him for another $83 million earlier this year for keeping up the defamation in 2022, even after the first verdict.
A federal appeals court shot down Trump’s challenges to that massive award just months ago, calling the damages “reasonable in light of the extraordinary and egregious facts.”
They also made it clear that the Supreme Court’s big presidential immunity ruling from last year—the one that shielded Trump from criminal prosecution in his election interference case—doesn’t apply to civil lawsuits like these.
CNN notes this probably won’t be the last time the justices deal with Carroll drama.
Whether they take the case or not is a coin toss; the court gets thousands of petitions yearly and only hears a tiny fraction.
Trump’s Broader Supreme Court Scorecard: Wins, Losses, and Drama
This petition lands amid a flurry of Trump-related action at the Supreme Court.
Just last week, the justices temporarily let his administration cut full food stamp payments during the government shutdown, siding with arguments that forcing full funding “makes a mockery of the separation of powers.”
On passports, they greenlit pausing gender self-identification policies.
But tariffs? That’s where things got rocky.
During arguments last week, even conservative justices seemed skeptical of Trump’s use of a 1977 emergency law to slap duties on imports from dozens of countries.
Trump fired back on social media, blasting the court and insisting businesses are “pouring into the USA ONLY BECAUSE OF TARIFFS.”
It’s a mixed bag, showing a court that’s friendly on some executive powers but not afraid to push back.
Meanwhile, Other Legal Clouds Loom Large
Trump’s not just battling Carroll. There’s that half-billion-dollar civil fraud judgment from New York AG Letitia James— a state appeals court recently tossed the penalties but kept the guilty verdict intact, and that’s headed for another fight.
And remember the transition delays last year? Trump dragged his feet on signing ethics pledges, slowing down access to briefings and agencies.
Critics saw it as avoiding conflict-of-interest scrutiny tied to his businesses.
What Happens Next? Eyes on the Justices
The big question: Will the Supreme Court bite?
Trump’s lawyers flagged this petition back in August, so it’s been brewing.
If they take it, arguments could drag into 2026, potentially rewriting how old, uncorroborated assault claims play out in court—or shielding high-profile figures from what Trump calls witch hunts.
For now, Carroll’s team hasn’t commented publicly on the latest filing, but they’ve won at every turn so far.
This one’s personal for Trump, and with a conservative-heavy court he helped shape, he’s betting on a reversal.
Stay tuned—this saga’s far from over, and it could say a lot about accountability at the top levels of power.
Also Read: A DOJ Whistleblower Now Makes Revelation That Undermines the Judicial System’s Integrity
