2nd Circuit Halts $83.3 Million E. Jean Carroll Payment to Trump While Supreme Court Appeal Proceeds
The ruling follows the 2nd Circuit’s refusal last month to grant Trump’s request for a full en banc rehearing of the January 2024 verdict.
Tommy Flynn
NEW YORK — The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted President Donald Trump a temporary stay Tuesday on the $83.3 million defamation judgment awarded to E. Jean Carroll, pausing any payment requirement until the Supreme Court decides whether to take up his appeal or reject it.
The three-judge panel required Trump to post an additional $7.4 million bond to cover potential post-judgment interest through October 2026. Trump has already secured a roughly $91.6 million bond covering the judgment during earlier stages of the appeal.
The ruling follows the 2nd Circuit’s refusal last month to grant Trump’s request for a full en banc rehearing of the January 2024 verdict. Trump’s attorneys argued there is a “fair prospect” the Supreme Court will side with him on issues including presidential immunity for statements made while in office.
Carroll, a longtime advice columnist, sued Trump after he denied her 2019 accusation that he sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. She claimed Trump’s repeated public denials and attacks calling her story a “made up scam” damaged her reputation.
A separate May 2023 jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in the case, awarding Carroll $5 million. The 2nd Circuit upheld that verdict last year and later affirmed the additional $83.3 million defamation award in September 2025.
Trump’s legal team has maintained the awards are excessive and that his comments were protected political speech. Carroll’s side has said she plans to donate any recovered funds to organizations supporting women.
The stay keeps the judgment in place but prevents immediate collection while the Supreme Court appeal process moves forward. No timeline has been set for the high court to decide whether to hear the case. The development is the latest chapter in the years-long civil litigation that has continued even after Trump returned to the White House.
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