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Which of Donald Trump's sexual misconduct allegations were settled out of court and which went to trial?
Executive summary
Multiple of Donald Trump’s sexual‑misconduct accusations resulted in civil suits that were resolved at trial — most prominently E. Jean Carroll’s battery and defamation cases that led to a May 2023 jury finding and multi‑million‑dollar awards upheld on appeal [1] [2]. Other named accusers either settled out of court, dropped suits, or their allegations did not produce a public jury verdict in the available reporting [3] [4] [5].
1. The one high‑profile trial and verdict: E. Jean Carroll — a civil trial, not criminal
E. Jean Carroll sued Trump for sexual assault (battery) and defamation; a federal jury in 2023 found him liable for sexually abusing her (not rape) and for defamation, awarding an initial $5 million, later expanded judgments and appeals followed [1] [2] [6]. Courts and appeals have repeatedly reviewed and largely upheld those awards through 2024–2025, and Trump sought Supreme Court review of the civil verdict [1] [7] [2].
2. Settlements and dropped suits: examples in the record
Some earlier accusations produced settlements or dropped litigation rather than a trial verdict. Reporting shows Jill Harth’s 1990s civil claim was dropped after she reached a separate settlement related to a breach‑of‑contract suit, and numerous other accusations did not result in public jury decisions [4] [3]. A widely cited pattern in legacy coverage is that many allegations either never reached trial or ended in private settlements [3].
3. Distinguishing civil trials, criminal charges, and settlements
Available sources make a clear distinction: Carroll’s case was civil — not a criminal prosecution — and produced a jury finding of liability and damages; Reuters and PBS explicitly describe it as a civil jury finding [8] [6]. Multiple outlets note Trump has not been criminally charged for many of the sexual‑misconduct allegations covered in these reports, though civil exposure and monetary judgments differ from criminal convictions [4].
4. Which named allegations went to trial vs. settled or were dropped — what the sources name
The most documented trial in the provided material is E. Jean Carroll’s civil suit, which proceeded to two related federal civil trials and resulted in jury findings and multi‑million judgments [1] [2]. Reporting cites Jill Harth as an example where litigation did not end in a jury verdict and was tied to a settlement/dropped claim [4]. Beyond those examples, available sources do not comprehensively list every accuser’s civil outcome; many allegations “kept out of the courts” or had private resolutions that are described but not fully documented in the supplied results [3] [5].
5. Patterns, credibility fights, and competing narratives in coverage
News outlets and legal reporting emphasize competing viewpoints: Carroll and her lawyers presented testimony and character/propensity evidence; Trump’s team denied the allegations and challenged admissibility of other accusers’ testimony and the “Access Hollywood” tape being used at trial [1] [2]. Coverage notes Trump’s public denials and appeals, and appellate courts’ summaries describe both the trial rulings and Trump’s arguments that the judge erred [2] [8]. Other outlets summarise that many accusers exist (roughly two dozen to nearly 30 in some reports) while stressing that most accusations did not produce trial verdicts like Carroll’s [9] [4].
6. What the reporting does not — and cannot — tell us from these sources
Available sources do not offer a single authoritative, itemized roster (with court outcomes) for every named accuser showing “settled vs. tried.” The supplied reporting highlights a few landmark cases (Carroll; Harth) and general patterns but does not enumerate outcomes for every allegation or every private settlement [3] [5]. Where a specific claim’s resolution is not named in these sources, that outcome is “not found in current reporting” among the materials you supplied.
7. Takeaway for readers weighing claims and outcomes
The clear factual anchor in the supplied reporting is that E. Jean Carroll’s civil suit went to trial and produced sustained jury findings and significant damages [1] [6]. Many other accusations either ended without public trials, were settled or dropped, or remain described in journalism without recorded public judgments in the materials provided [3] [4]. Readers should note the legal difference between civil liability and criminal guilt, and that private settlements or cases that never reach trial can limit public documentation of outcomes [6] [3].