...
By Sonam Sheth
Evening Politics Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
E. Jean Carroll took a victory lap on Thursday in response to an appeals court order affirming its ruling to uphold a civil verdict that found President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll.
"Thursday, July 10th, 2025," she wrote. "So long, Old Man! The United States Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, bids thee farewell."
The appeals court handed down its initial ruling in June but issued a mandate affirming that ruling and triggering the window for the Trump administration to ask the Supreme Court to step in and overturn the verdict.
Read More on Politics
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email on Thursday evening.
The Context
A New York City jury in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll, an advice columnist, in 1996 and awarded her $5 million. The president was also found liable for defaming Carroll over her allegations. The jury's verdict was announced just three hours after it began deliberations.
Another civil jury in January 2024 found Trump liable for defaming Carroll in 2019, after she first publicly accused him of raping her in a dressing room at a Bergdorf Goodman department store. After Carroll published a book detailing her allegations, Trump said he had never met the writer and that her book "should be sold in the fiction section."
The jury ordered the president to shell out $83.3 million to Carroll in damages in the second case. Trump is appealing that verdict.
...
What To Know
The New York federal appeals court on Thursday affirmed its earlier ruling, which said Trump did not demonstrate that the judge who presided over his 2023 trial had "erred in any of the challenged rulings."
"Further, he has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial," the three-judge panel for the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrote in its June ruling.
What People Are Saying
A spokesman for Trump's lawyers said in a statement after the June ruling: Americans "demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed."
Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement after the June ruling that her client was "very pleased," adding: "Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed."
What Happens Next
The president is still working to get the January 2024 ruling overturned.
Editor's Note 7/10/25, 9:17 p.m. ET: This article was updated to reflect the timing of the appeals court's original ruling and its mandate affirming the ruling.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines