U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the jury’s $83.3 million defamation award in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has also filed a separate request seeking similar relief.
Trump’s legal team argues that his public statements about Carroll were made while he was serving as president and should therefore be considered part of his official duties. They contend that the remarks should be protected by presidential legal immunity.
In their filing, federal government lawyers argued that without Supreme Court intervention, a sitting or former president could face nearly $100 million in personal financial liability for statements made within the scope of official responsibilities.
The DOJ cited the Westfall Act, a federal law that provides government employees with immunity from certain civil lawsuits arising from actions taken as part of their official duties.
Trump’s private attorneys also pointed to the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Trump v. United States, arguing that the Court’s expanded view of presidential immunity should also apply in this civil case. However, the ruling primarily addressed criminal immunity, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected that argument last year.
Carroll has pursued two separate defamation lawsuits against Trump. The first was filed in 2019, after Trump claimed she had fabricated her sexual assault allegation for personal gain. The second followed in 2022, when Trump described her claims on social media as “false,” a “hoax,” and a “complete con job.”
In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages. In January 2024, a separate jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in the first defamation case, with much of the amount awarded as punitive damages.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court declined to hear Trump’s appeal of the $5 million judgment. With interest added, that amount has risen to approximately $5.8 million, and a federal court has ordered the payment to proceed.
It remains unclear whether the Supreme Court will agree to hear Trump’s latest appeal challenging the $83.3 million verdict.
Carroll, a former columnist for Elle magazine, alleged in her 2019 book What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal that Trump sexually assaulted and raped her in a department store dressing room in 1996. Trump has consistently denied the allegation, saying he did not know Carroll and rejecting her claims.
