The legal battle between Donald Trump and writer E. Jean Carroll has officially reached its ultimate destination. Trump's defense team, alongside the United States Department of Justice, has officially petitioned the Supreme Court to wipe out the staggering $83.3 million defamation verdict awarded to Carroll. It's a massive escalation in a years-long feud. If the high court agrees to hear the case, it could redefine the boundaries of presidential liability forever.
The Core Argument Behind the Supreme Court Appeal
At the heart of the new filing is a heavy-hitting defense: presidential immunity. Trump's lawyers and federal attorneys are arguing that the statements triggering the lawsuit—made back in 2019 from the White House while Trump was serving his first term—constituted official duties.
The Justice Department is leaning heavily on the Westfall Act. This statute normally shields federal employees from personal liability when they act within the scope of their employment. Government attorneys contend that leaving a sitting president on the hook for nearly one hundred million dollars for answering press questions sets a dangerous and unprecedented precedent.
"Absent this Court's intervention, the sitting President is facing nearly a hundred million dollars of personal liability for conduct that was well within the scope of his federal office," federal attorneys wrote in the petition.
How We Got Here
The $83.3 million payout stems from a 2024 jury verdict in New York. Jurors concluded that Trump acted with malicious intent when he repeatedly denied Carroll's claims that he sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room during the mid-1990s. Most of that specific award consisted of $65 million in punitive damages, designed specifically to punish repeat denials and stop the ongoing harassment Carroll testified she faced from supporters.
Prior to that massive judgment, a different jury awarded Carroll $5 million in a separate trial finding him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. While the Supreme Court previously declined to hear Trump's appeal regarding that smaller $5 million verdict—allowing Carroll to collect millions—this new appeal targets the much larger financial penalty.
Trump's legal team claims that a federal appeals court used procedural maneuvers to bypass his core presidential immunity defenses. They argue the damages are grossly excessive and represent the first time in American history that a court has imposed financial liability on a president for conduct executed while in office.
What Happens Next
The Supreme Court will review the petition when it reconvenes in the autumn. While the appeals court previously granted a temporary delay on immediate enforcement—requiring Trump to post a multi-million dollar bond to cover accruing interest—the final outcome rests entirely with the justices.
If the Supreme Court takes the case, it forces a profound constitutional reckoning over the limits of executive power versus personal accountability. If they pass on the petition, Trump faces the immediate reality of paying out one of the largest civil defamation judgments in modern legal history.
Review the court docket filings directly through the Supreme Court or monitor updates on major legal databases to track whether the justices grant certiorari in the coming months.
