Trump’s attempt to delay payment fails
Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday ordered the release of the funds President Donald Trump deposited with the court after the 2023 civil trial, ending Trump’s latest bid to hold off payment while he pursued an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump had argued that the trial judge, Kaplan, improperly allowed evidence that harmed his case. A federal appeals court rejected that argument last year, ruling that Kaplan did not commit errors warranting a new trial. The Supreme Court last week declined to hear Trump’s appeal of the $5 million liability verdict.
The money — more than $5.8 million including interest — had been held in a court-controlled account since Trump deposited it after the jury’s decision. Kaplan did not specify when the funds would be transferred to Carroll.
Trump’s attorneys had asked for more time to seek Supreme Court reconsideration, but Kaplan denied that request on July 4. Wednesday’s order directs the court clerk to release the funds.
The 2023 verdict stemmed from Carroll’s allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. After Carroll told her story publicly in 2019, Trump denied the accusation on social media, calling it a hoax. The jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded $5 million in damages.
Trump has separately appealed a nearly $84 million defamation award from a second trial in 2024. A federal appeals court panel denied his appeal of that verdict last year, but the payment has been delayed pending Supreme Court review.
The BBC has contacted Trump’s attorneys for comment.