Jury orders Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages to Carroll, will appeal

Published January 26, 2024 5:03pm ET



Former President Donald Trump on Friday was ordered to pay $83.3 million to advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in a defamation lawsuit stemming from his denial of her claim that he raped her in the mid-1990s.

A nine-person jury found Trump should pay $65 million in punitive damages to the former Elle magazine columnist, as well as $18.3 million in compensatory damages for emotional harm and other damages.

Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll.
Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll. | AP

Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York. He denied the accusations and called them a hoax and Carroll a liar.

Following the verdict, Trump released a statement declaring, “THIS IS NOT AMERICA.”

“Absolutely ridiculous!” Trump said. “I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights.”

Trump was already found liable for sexually assaulting Carroll during a separate defamation trial last May, in which jurors determined that while there was not a preponderance of evidence to prove that Trump raped Carroll, there was enough evidence to prove that he sexually abused her and defamed her after she stepped forward with her claims.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan found Trump liable for defamation in the current case based on that jury’s findings. Kaplan also barred Trump from testifying that Carroll’s claim was invented, but Trump still managed to mutter under his breath, “I consider this a false accusation” during the trial on Thursday.

The trial started on Jan. 16, and Trump was the last witness in the case. He testified for roughly five minutes.

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