A federal appeals court has confirmed that former President Donald Trump must pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll. This ruling stems from Trump's repeated social media attacks against Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision on Monday, rejecting Trump's appeal of the defamation award. The court stated that the jury's damages were "fair and reasonable."

Trump's legal team argued that the damages were excessively high and sought a new trial, citing a Supreme Court decision that expanded presidential immunity. However, the appeals court dismissed these claims, emphasizing that Trump's "extraordinary and unprecedented" comments about Carroll warranted the substantial award. The judges concluded that the punitive damages did not exceed reasonable limits given the case's unique and egregious circumstances.

Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, expressed satisfaction with the ruling, stating, "E. Jean Carroll was telling the truth, and that President Donald Trump was not." Kaplan noted that Carroll had faced threats during the legal proceedings and looked forward to concluding the appellate process.

The ruling is part of a broader legal battle that began when Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan department store in 1996. In her memoir and during a 2023 trial, Carroll recounted a chance encounter with Trump that escalated from flirting to a violent struggle in a dressing room. She alleged that Trump slammed her against a wall, pulled down her tights, and assaulted her. A jury found Trump liable for sexual assault but determined he did not commit rape under New York law.

In a previous trial, a jury awarded Carroll $5 million for the alleged assault and for Trump's denials of the incident. Following that verdict, a second trial was held to determine damages for additional defamatory statements made by Trump about Carroll's character. Trump did not attend the first trial but was present for the second, which occurred while he was campaigning for the presidency in 2024.

Throughout the second trial, Trump characterized the lawsuit as a politically motivated attack aimed at undermining his campaign. His legal team argued that the judge had improperly restricted their ability to assert his innocence regarding the assault. The judge ruled that the issue had already been settled by the first jury and did not need to be revisited.

The appeals court upheld the trial judge's decisions, affirming that the jury's damage awards were justified based on the extraordinary facts of the case.