President Trump scored another legal win this week after a federal appeals court agreed to let him hold off on paying writer E. Jean Carroll’s massive $83.3 million defamation judgment while he takes his fight to the Supreme Court.
The ruling from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gives Trump breathing room as he continues a broader legal counteroffensive that has seen him notch several major courtroom victories over the past year — including Supreme Court wins on presidential immunity and multiple delays in politically charged cases brought against him during the 2024 campaign.
The court’s order allows Trump to pause payment of the judgment for now, though judges required him to increase his bond by roughly $7.5 million to cover mounting interest if his appeal ultimately fails.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, tried to frame the ruling as a victory for her client.
“We are pleased that the Second Circuit conditioned the stay on President Trump posting a bond of nearly $100 million,” Kaplan said after the decision.
But the practical effect is clear: Trump will not have to pay Carroll anytime soon as the nation’s highest court weighs whether to step into the explosive case.
The president is asking the Supreme Court to overturn both civil verdicts won by Carroll, who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her inside a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s — allegations he has repeatedly and forcefully denied.
Two separate Manhattan juries sided with Carroll in civil proceedings.
The first jury awarded her $5 million after finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation tied to comments he made in 2022.
The second jury later slammed Trump with the eye-popping $83.3 million judgment after concluding he further defamed Carroll by publicly rejecting her claims while campaigning for president.
Trump’s legal team has argued the second case should never have moved forward because the statements in question were made while he was serving as president, raising serious constitutional questions involving presidential immunity and executive authority.
His lawyers have also argued the federal government should substitute itself as the defendant under the Westfall Act, potentially shielding Trump personally from liability.
So far, lower courts have rejected those arguments — but Trump has increasingly found success when cases reach the Supreme Court.
Last year, the high court handed Trump a landmark immunity victory that sharply limited prosecutors’ ability to pursue criminal charges tied to official presidential actions. That ruling upended multiple cases brought against him and was widely viewed as one of the most significant constitutional decisions involving presidential power in decades.
Trump has also benefited from repeated delays in several Democrat-backed prosecutions and investigations that critics argued were timed to damage him politically during the 2024 election cycle.
Now, the Carroll cases are shaping up to become the next major legal showdown.
The Supreme Court has already spent months considering whether to hear Trump’s appeal involving the first Carroll verdict. The justices were initially expected to discuss the matter privately in February, but consideration has been delayed multiple times without explanation.
Trump’s forthcoming appeal of the second verdict will now add even more pressure on the high court to weigh in.
For now, however, the appeals court ruling marks another temporary but significant courtroom victory for the president as he continues battling a long list of legal challenges while preparing for the remainder of his second term.
