Trump Ordered to Pay $83.3 Million for Defaming Carroll

Erik Larson, Patricia Hurtado and Ethan M Steinberg
·6 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- A New York jury said Donald Trump must pay $83.3 million to former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll for defaming her when he denied he sexually assaulted her, a scathing indictment of his conduct as the former president campaigns to return to the White House.

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The award was handed down Friday in a Manhattan federal court after a trial that spanned two weeks. Carroll testified Trump shattered her reputation and put her life at risk when he falsely claimed the assault never took place, which unleashed waves of online abuse and threats by his followers.

The panel of seven men and two women deliberated for about three hours after hearing from several witnesses, including Trump and Carroll. The award includes $18.3 million in compensation for harm caused to Carroll’s reputation plus $65 million in punitive damages to penalize Trump and deter him from engaging in any future defamation.

Carroll’s lawyer had asked the jury for at least $24 million in compensatory damages and an unspecified but significant amount in punitive damages to stop him from continuing to defame her. While the compensatory damages were less than she wanted, it was the $65 million in punitive damages that ultimately showed the strength of her case.

“Shattered” Reputation

Trump wasn’t in the courtroom for the verdict. A few minutes after it was announced, he continued to fight back on social media, saying he would be appealing and calling the decision “absolutely ridiculous!”

The amount of compensatory damages shows the jury accepted Carroll’s evidence that Trump’s statements “shattered” her reputation as a trusted advice columnist and writer, slashing her income and putting her professional future in doubt. Meanwhile, the punitive damages are a major win for Carroll, validating her argument that a wealthy and powerful man like Trump needed to be hit with a steep financial penalty for his conduct.

Trump has a net worth of about $3.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

“This is a great victory for every woman who stands up when she’s been knocked down, and a huge defeat for every bully who has tried to keep a woman down,” Carroll said in a statement.

The award is the latest legal setback for Trump and brings renewed attention on his alleged treatment of women just days after he won the closely watched New Hampshire primary, which pushed him closer to the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election. He also faces trials in four criminal cases as he campaigns, plus a looming verdict in the $370 million civil fraud case New York state filed against him over his asset valuations.

The jurors were focused only on how much he’d have to pay. Before the trial, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan held Trump liable for defaming Carroll while he was president.

“Enjoy the weekend,” Judge Kaplan told the jury before advising them never to reveal their identities to the public.

Trump’s planned appeal isn’t a surprise. He’s already challenged the case she won last year, when jurors held him liable for sexual abuse and defaming her on social media in 2022. The jury in that case, which heard detailed testimony from other women who accused Trump, awarded Carroll a total of $5 million in damages.

Courtroom Fireworks

The trial started wrapping up Friday morning with closing arguments by lawyers for both sides. Trump, whose conduct in court has been closely watched, rose from his seat and stormed out of the courtroom in a breach of decorum just a few minutes into the presentation by Carroll attorney Roberta Kaplan. The lawyer continued her presentation to the the jury as Trump posted defiant comments about the case on social media from elsewhere in the courthouse.

The former president returned to the courtroom 45 minutes later to hear fiery closing arguments by his lawyer Alina Habba, who frequently raised her voice and gestured widely with her hands to blast Carroll’s case. Trump appeared frustrated when Carroll’s lawyers objected to parts of Habba’s presentation.

Earlier in the morning, before the jury was called in, the judge threatened to throw Habba behind bars if she continued arguing over a piece of evidence that the judge had firmly rejected from her closing presentation. “Ms. Habba! You are on the verge of spending time in the lockup,” the judge said. “Sit down.”

Read More: Trump Fumes After 5-Minute Carroll Trial Testimony Reined In

This month’s trial featured sometimes emotional testimony by Carroll, who told the jury that after Trump’s attacks, she bought bullets for her gun so she could feel safer.

The defamatory statements issued from the White House in June 2019 accused Carroll of fabricating the assault to sell a book and to advance a political agenda. He has called her a “wack job” and “sicko” and said she should “pay dearly” for accusing him.

Trump was the last witness in the trial, though he was on the stand for less than five minutes because of strict limits imposed by the judge on what he could say. Trump said he stood by an earlier deposition he’d given in which he denied assaulting Carroll. He also testified that he issued the defamatory statements to “defend myself, my family and in fact the presidency.”

The judge cut off Trump at least twice and struck some of his testimony from the record after the former president attempted to expand on his brief answers. Earlier in the trial, the judge had threatened to kick Trump out of court if he didn’t stop muttering loudly his complaints about the case when the jury was present.

Trump had argued Carroll’s reputation had been improved — not harmed — since she accused Trump of sexual assault. He pointed to evidence that Carroll gained tens of thousands of followers on social media, becoming a prominent figure in the anti-Trump “resistance.” He also argued that online attacks by his supporters were the result of her going public with her allegations, not his denials.

Carroll said any increase in her popularity from going public was eclipsed by her feelings of fear and helplessness when she became a target of Trump’s ire. She said the number of letters she received as an advice columnist plummeted and that she lost credibility as a writer after Trump called her a liar.

The case is Carroll v. Trump, 20-CV-7311, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

(Updates with statement from Carroll.)

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