President Donald Trump has formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the civil verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll, marking the latest chapter in a years-long legal battle that has shadowed his political comeback.
In a petition filed with the Court, Trump’s attorneys argued that the $5 million jury verdict was “propped up” by “a series of indefensible evidentiary rulings” that allowed Carroll’s lawyers to introduce what they called “highly inflammatory propensity evidence.” The filing claimed that these rulings unfairly prejudiced the jury and violated federal evidentiary standards.
“President Trump has clearly and consistently denied that this supposed incident ever occurred,” attorney Justin Smith and his co-counsel wrote in the filing. “No physical or DNA evidence corroborates Carroll’s story. There were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, and no police report or investigation.”
Carroll first sued Trump in 2019, after publishing a memoir alleging that he raped her in a department store dressing room in New York City in the 1990s. Trump denied the accusation outright, saying he had never met Carroll, that she was not his “type,” and that she fabricated the story to promote her book. His forceful denials led to Carroll’s defamation claims, resulting in two separate trials.
Trump’s lawyers now assert that U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who oversaw the trial, “warped federal evidence rules” to support Carroll’s “implausible, unsubstantiated assertions.” They further contend that by upholding the verdict, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals created a conflict with other appellate courts over how such evidence should be treated.
When Trump’s legal team first announced in September that they would appeal to the Supreme Court, Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, dismissed the move. “We do not believe that President Trump will be able to present any legal issues in the Carroll cases that merit review by the United States Supreme Court,” she said at the time.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team characterized the Supreme Court filing as part of a broader effort to fight what they describe as politically motivated legal attacks. “The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes,” the statement said.
The appeal follows a series of defeats for Trump in the lower courts. In December 2024, a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit upheld the $5 million verdict, rejecting claims that trial errors had tainted the outcome. In June 2025, the same court denied Trump’s request for a full rehearing by all active judges, leaving him with the Supreme Court as his last legal option.
Trump did not attend the original 2023 trial but briefly testified at a second defamation trial in 2024, which resulted in a separate $83.3 million damages award for Carroll. That verdict was also upheld in September by a 2nd Circuit panel, which described the jury’s damages as “fair and reasonable.” Trump has since asked the full appellate court to reconsider that decision as well.
