President Donald Trump has filed an emergency injunction request seeking to compel writer E. Jean Carroll to return $5.6 million that he paid her on July 9 from a court-controlled escrow account. The payment was made less than two weeks after a federal judge ordered Trump to pay the sum.
A jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump has repeatedly denied the accusations, at one point stating he had never met Carroll. However, a jury in 2023 found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, awarding Carroll $5 million in damages. A subsequent trial in 2024 found him liable again for defamation, leading to an $83.3 million verdict.
Trump's legal team expressed confidence that the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, would rule in his favor. He appointed three of the nine justices during his presidency.
Carroll's lawyers opposed Trump's motion, describing it in a court filing Monday night with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as "procedurally improper, substantively meritless." They characterized the request as another instance of his "slow-roll" tactics.
According to Carroll's legal team, the Supreme Court denied Trump's petition for a writ of certiorari on June 29, 2026, without dissent. This outcome, as agreed by the parties and ordered by the district court, entitled Carroll to "collect any moneys owed by Defendant to Plaintiff." Her lawyers argued that Trump's subsequent actions have been attempts to "desperately" forestall payment, which failed when the court denied his emergency request for a stay on July 8.
The filing noted that this was Trump's seventh request across cases involving him and Carroll. The court's decision to deny his latest request legally permitted the disbursement of the $5.6 million judgment from the initial verdict.
Trump continues to contest the $83 million verdict. Earlier this year, court filings reportedly signed by Department of Justice officials asserted there was "good cause" to pause that case and allow his administration to argue for Trump's immunity.