Trump petitions Supreme Court to overturn $83.3 million Carroll defamation award

President Donald Trump’s legal team filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to reverse a 2024 jury verdict that found him liable for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll and ordered him to pay $83.3 million. The lawsuit stems from statements Trump made while in office denying Carroll’s allegation that he sexually abused her in a dressing room in 1996.

Trump’s attorneys argue that the Westfall Act, which shields federal employees from certain lawsuits arising from official duties, should protect the president. They contend that the government, not the president personally, should be named as the defendant, and note that the United States cannot be sued for defamation.

"Here, the president of the United States has been ordered to pay nearly $100 million in damages ... for issuing a press release and answering reporters’ questions, from the White House, defending against attacks on his fitness for office," the filing said.

The filing also references the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision on presidential immunity, claiming lower courts failed to apply that precedent. Earlier appeals to a federal appeals court and a three-judge panel were denied. Carroll’s attorneys declined to comment on the petition.

The Supreme Court previously declined to hear a separate defamation case brought by Carroll, in which a jury awarded her $5 million in 2023.