NextFin news, On Monday, September 8, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan upheld an $83.3 million defamation judgment against former President Donald Trump. The ruling affirmed a jury's decision that Trump defamed writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault in the 1990s.
The case originated from Carroll's allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. In 2023, Trump was found liable for the assault, and a jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages for that incident. Separately, the jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in punitive damages for defamation, concluding that Trump acted with malice by repeatedly attacking Carroll, including through social media.
The appeals court rejected Trump's argument that presidential immunity protected him from liability in this civil defamation case. The three-judge panel stated that Trump failed to provide grounds to reconsider the prior ruling on presidential immunity.
Carroll's legal team had urged the jury to impose a substantial award to deter Trump from further defamatory attacks. The jury agreed, finding Trump's statements to be malicious and awarding punitive damages accordingly.
The appeals court's decision was issued in Manhattan, New York, and was reported by multiple news outlets including CNBC, NBC News, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times on Monday, September 8, 2025.
This ruling upholds the significant financial penalty against Trump related to his public statements about Carroll, reinforcing the jury's findings of defamation and malice.
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