E. Jean Carroll Triumphs: $5.6 Million Awarded After Trump Held Accountable
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
A Manhattan federal jury delivered justice against President Donald Trump, resulting in a $5.625 million payment to writer E. Jean Carroll after all appeals failed.
Writer E. Jean Carroll has finally received a $5.625 million payment after a civil judgment found President Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation—a rare moment of accountability for a powerful man long shielded by privilege. The sum includes the original $5 million awarded by a Manhattan federal jury in 2023, plus three years of accrued interest, underscoring the years Carroll spent fighting for justice in a system often stacked against survivors.
Roberta Kaplan, Carroll's attorney, confirmed that the payment fulfills the jury's verdict, a significant victory for survivors of sexual violence everywhere. The White House, distancing itself from Trump's disgraceful conduct, referred NPR's inquiries to Trump's personal lawyers, who have remained silent, refusing to answer for his actions.
Carroll's lawsuit stemmed from her courageous 2019 memoir, in which she exposed Trump's sexual assault in a Manhattan department store dressing room in 1996. Trump, as is typical of powerful men, denied the allegations and attempted to silence her with a defamation claim. Ultimately, a U.S. District Judge ordered the payment after the Supreme Court declined to review Trump's desperate appeal, marking a powerful rebuke of impunity for the rich and influential.