What civil cases alleging sexual misconduct against Donald Trump were settled and what public records document those settlements?
Executive summary
Two relatively early claims alleging sexual misconduct by Donald Trump were resolved through private civil settlements that are documented in contemporaneous reporting and later summaries: his 1990 divorce settlement with Ivana Trump, which included a confidentiality provision and in which Ivana at one point described an incident as “rape,” and the 1997 dispute with businesswoman Jill Harth, in which Harth later settled a breach‑of‑contract claim and dropped a harassment claim; most high‑profile later allegations (notably E. Jean Carroll’s suits) resulted in litigation and jury verdicts rather than negotiated public settlements [1] [2] [3].
1. Ivana Trump’s divorce settlement and public record of confidentiality
Ivana Trump’s 1990 divorce from Donald Trump was resolved by a settlement that the couple and their lawyers described as including confidentiality provisions that restricted Ivana’s ability to discuss the marriage or divorce, and in her divorce deposition she used the word “rape” to describe an incident that later became public in a 1993 book before she “softened” the claim, as summarized in contemporaneous reporting and later timelines [1] [2]. The primary public documentation of that settlement exists in reporting and summaries of the divorce record and in the book‑era disclosures; Wikipedia’s synthesis of that reporting cites the settlement and the confidentiality clause [1].
2. Jill Harth’s 1997 litigation and the settlement of a breach‑of‑contract claim
Businesswoman Jill Harth sued Trump in 1997 alleging sexual harassment and related claims; reporting indicates she later settled a breach‑of‑contract claim and forfeited the separate harassment claim, with mainstream outlets (as summarized in Wikipedia and The Guardian) noting the settlement and Harth’s decision to drop the harassment portion of her case [1] [2]. The public record for that resolution is primarily news reporting and legal filings summarized by secondary sources; the available sources here indicate a settlement but do not reproduce the settlement agreement itself in full [1] [2].
3. E. Jean Carroll: verdicts, not a negotiated settlement, documented in court records
E. Jean Carroll’s civil actions against Donald Trump culminated in jury findings of liability for sexual abuse and defamation and monetary awards totaling tens of millions of dollars rather than a private settlement; these outcomes are documented in court filings, jury awards, and later appeals and are summarized in detailed entries and timelines (the two suits resulted in $88.3 million in damages as reported) [3] [4] [2]. Those are public court judgments and appellate dockets, not confidential settlements, and the sources here treat them as adjudicated judgments subject to appeal [3] [4].
4. Other allegations, lawsuits withdrawn or litigated, and the limits of public documentation
Several other women publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct over the years; some pursued litigation that was later withdrawn or framed as defamation suits—Summer Zervos, for example, brought claims that culminated in a defamation suit she ultimately withdrew rather than a settlement—while many allegations did not lead to publicly documented settlements [1]. The available compiled sources (Wikipedia and The Guardian timeline) catalog allegations, withdrawn claims, and court outcomes but do not, in the reporting assembled here, produce settlement contracts or full court orders for every allegation, which limits the ability to produce a comprehensive list of sealed or confidential settlements from these materials [1] [2].
5. Reading the record: what is publicly verifiable and what remains private
What can be verified from the provided sources is that a small number of very early matters were resolved through settlements or divorce agreements recorded in news accounts (Ivana; Harth) while the most consequential recent claim (E. Jean Carroll) was resolved by jury verdict and court judgments rather than a negotiated settlement; other claims were litigated, withdrawn, or remain publicly unverified as settlements in the materials assembled here [1] [3] [2]. These sources also reflect the practical reality that many civil settlements are confidential, so public reporting or court judgments are often the only accessible documentary evidence unless courts unseal settlement documents or parties disclose them [1].
6. Alternative perspectives and implicit agendas in the sources
The sources used here—Wikipedia syntheses and a Guardian timeline—compile contemporaneous reporting and legal records but reflect selection choices: timelines emphasize items of public interest and verdicts, while encyclopedic summaries compress complex litigation histories into brief entries, which can understate sealed settlement details; advocacy, political and reputational interests on all sides have motivated both publicity and silence, meaning some settlements may exist but remain inaccessible in public records cited here [1] [2]. The reporting included explicitly flags where claims were recanted, softened, withdrawn, or adjudicated, and it is important to distinguish confidential settlements (documented in reporting) from public court judgments (documented in filings and verdicts) [1] [3].