E Jean Carroll, the New York journalist and advice columnist, has asked a federal judge to order Donald Trump to pay her the $5 million he owes from a jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing her in the 1990s and defaming her in 2019. The request, filed on Tuesday in a Manhattan federal court, comes one day after the US Supreme Court refused to hear Trump's appeal of the civil case verdict.
Carroll's Legal Filing
Lawyers for Carroll argued that Trump is unjustly delaying payment, having made repeated challenges to the jury's decision. The amount owed has grown to nearly $5.8 million with interest. The filing states that the court should require the sum to be disbursed by the Republican president, noting that Trump has continued to assail Carroll, 82, and made further defamatory remarks while asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision, announced on Monday.
“To date, Carroll has agreed to each of defendant’s many requests to delay the payment he owes her. Given the extraordinary lengths he has taken to avoid such payments and that each of those efforts has been denied in full, that cooperation ends today. It is time for him to pay Carroll,” wrote Carroll's lawyers, Roberta Kaplan, D Brandon Trice, and Maximilian T Crema.
Trump's Response
Trump reacted to the Supreme Court's decision by writing on Truth Social: “Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to ‘review’ a Fake Case brought against me.” He also promised on social media to keep fighting what he called a “Weaponization and Lawfare Case”. Trump's legal team contacted Carroll's lawyers minutes after his response, asking for a delay in payment while the court is asked to reconsider its decision.
Background of the Case
The jury reached its verdict in a trial that Trump did not attend. Carroll testified that she was sexually abused by Trump in spring 1996 in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury department store in midtown Manhattan, after a chance encounter. She first publicly described the attack in a 2019 magazine article, while Trump was president. Trump repeatedly denied knowing Carroll and accused her of having political motives and trying to sell books at his expense.
The Supreme Court's decision comes after a three-judge panel at the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict in 2024, rejecting Trump's arguments that the trial was unfair due to evidence of his past alleged sexual misconduct. In 2025, Trump asked the Supreme Court to review the case, but the justices declined without any noted division.
Additional Defamation Case
Trump is also appealing an $83 million defamation compensation granted to Carroll from a separate Manhattan jury after a January 2024 trial at which Trump briefly testified. Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest filing.
According to the Associated Press, the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the appeal leaves the verdict intact, requiring Trump to pay the damages.
