US Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to appeal $5 million E. Jean Carroll verdict

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Donald Trump’s appeal of the $5 million civil verdict won by E. Jean Carroll, leaving the judgment intact.

The court acted in a brief unexplained order and did not note any dissents. The move closes off Trump’s last direct bid to overturn the first Carroll verdict at the nation’s highest court.

The ruling means the $5 million judgment remains in place unless it is paid or otherwise resolved.

What the court left standing

The case stems from a 2023 Manhattan jury verdict that found Trump sexually abused Carroll and defamed her. Trump had asked the Supreme Court to revisit that outcome after losing in the lower courts.

According to the research packet, Trump’s lawyers argued that the trial judge allowed improper evidence, including testimony from two other women who accused him of sexual abuse. The Supreme Court gave no explanation for declining review and no justice noted a public dissent.

The decision leaves the first Carroll case effectively finished at the Supreme Court level, even as Trump continues to fight related legal battles.

Trump’s reaction and Carroll’s response

Trump criticized the ruling after the court acted and said he would continue fighting the broader Carroll litigation. The case has remained one of the most consequential legal exposures tied to his repeated public attacks on Carroll.

Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said the court’s refusal to take up the case ends Trump’s effort to avoid accountability in the first verdict. Her response tracks the immediate legal effect of the order: the judgment survives intact.

The Supreme Court’s move does not erase the underlying jury findings. It simply means the high court will not reopen the record in this case.

What remains unresolved

Trump still faces a separate $83.3 million defamation judgment from a different Carroll case. That award remains an active financial and legal risk, and it is distinct from the $5 million verdict the Supreme Court declined to review.

The broader Carroll litigation has unfolded in stages, beginning with Carroll’s public accusation against Trump in 2019 and continuing through multiple trials and appeals. The first case produced the $5 million judgment; the later case produced the much larger $83.3 million award.

For now, the Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene leaves Trump with one fewer avenue to challenge the earlier verdict. It also keeps the separate $83.3 million case squarely in view as the larger unresolved exposure.

What happens next

The next developments to watch are any follow-up filings or public statements from Trump’s legal team, as well as any enforcement steps Carroll may seek on the $5 million judgment.

The separate $83.3 million case remains the bigger outstanding dispute, and it could continue to move through appeals and related lower-court proceedings. The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the first appeal sharpens the contrast between a final judgment in one Carroll case and an ongoing fight in the other.