Less than two weeks after writer E. Jean Carroll finally received more than $5.6 million from a court-controlled escrow account, President Donald Trump is fighting to claw the money back.
His legal team has filed an emergency request seeking an injunction that would force Carroll to return the funds while they pursue further challenges. The payment stemmed from a 2023 civil jury verdict finding Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the mid-1990s and defaming her after she went public with the accusation.
The money — reported as $5,625,005.48 including interest — was released earlier this month after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Trump’s appeal. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered the disbursement, writing that Trump had “been stalling this case for years” and that it was time for him to pay the judgment upheld through the appeals process.
How We Got Here: Years of Battles Over a 1990s Allegation
Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former Elle magazine writer, publicly accused Trump in her 2019 memoir of assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan in the mid-1990s. She described him pinning her against a wall and sexually abusing her. Trump has consistently and forcefully denied the claims, calling them a “hoax,” “con job,” and politically motivated attack. He has said he never met her.
In May 2023, a federal jury in New York found Trump liable for sexual abuse (the jury did not find rape under the specific legal definition used) and for defaming Carroll through his public denials. Jurors awarded her $5 million in damages. Appeals courts upheld the verdict. On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court declined to take the case, with no noted dissents.
Carroll’s lawyers then pressed for release of the funds held in escrow. On or around July 8–9, 2026, Judge Kaplan ordered the money paid out. Payment followed shortly after. A separate 2024 jury awarded Carroll an additional $83 million in a second defamation case over later statements by Trump; that larger judgment remains tied up in ongoing litigation, with the Justice Department involved in related immunity arguments.
Trump’s Emergency Push and Carroll’s Fierce Response
Trump’s lawyers argue the funds should return to escrow while they continue challenges, warning of “irreparable harm” and an “unrecoverable loss” if the money is spent or distributed. They have pointed to Carroll’s stated intention to give away proceeds and have pursued rehearing or other avenues at the Supreme Court level.
Carroll’s attorneys have strongly opposed the request. In filings with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, they called it “procedurally improper, substantively meritless,” and part of a long pattern of “slow-roll[ing]” defenses. They wrote that Trump “has engaged in a series of maneuvers trying desperately to forestall payment” rather than accepting the reality of repeated losses before a jury, the district court, the appeals court (including en banc), and the Supreme Court.
“The judgment here is final, the money has already been disbursed, and Carroll is entitled to keep it,” her lawyers stated. They also noted Trump’s continued public attacks on Carroll, which they say have fueled harassment and threats against her, and argued he comes to court with “very unclean hands.”
Judge Kaplan had previously rejected efforts to further delay payment, emphasizing that the verdict stood and that stalling must end.
Broader Context and Political Stakes
Trump has framed the entire case as “weaponization” and “lawfare,” vowing on Truth Social after the Supreme Court decision to continue fighting “with all of my power and strength.” A spokesperson for his legal team has described the matter in similar terms, calling it part of ongoing “witch hunts.”
Carroll has maintained her account throughout. Her legal team has stressed that the payment, more than three years after the original verdict, should have marked the end of this particular judgment. Separate legal fights, including over the larger $83 million award, continue.
The emergency request adds another chapter to a high-profile civil case that has stretched across years, multiple courts, and Trump’s political career — from private citizen to president again. Courts have so far rejected efforts to unwind the core $5 million-plus judgment, but litigation rarely ends cleanly when both sides remain locked in.
Key facts at a glance:
- 2023 jury: Trump liable for sexual abuse + defamation → $5 million.
- Interest brought the released amount to roughly $5.6–5.8 million.
- Supreme Court declined review (June 29, 2026).
- Judge ordered release; funds paid to Carroll ~July 9 onward.
- Trump emergency bid to recover funds filed ~mid-to-late July 2026.
- Carroll’s lawyers: baseless delay tactic; judgment is final.
The court will now weigh the emergency request against the finality of a judgment that has already survived every major appellate hurdle.
