How much did E. Jean Carroll receive in her 2019 and 2023 cases against Donald J. Trump?
Executive summary
E. Jean Carroll obtained two separate civil verdicts tied to allegations she first publicized in 2019: a jury in May 2023 awarded her $5 million for sexual abuse and defamation, and a later federal jury in January 2024 returned an $83.3 million defamation award tied to related statements by Donald J. Trump, leaving him theoretically responsible for roughly $88.3 million in judgments [1] [2] [3]. Courts and appeals have continued to parse liability, scope and collectability, and Trump has repeatedly denied the underlying allegations while appealing the rulings [4] [5].
1. The 2019-origin case and the large defamation verdict tied to it
The suit that traces back to Carroll’s 2019 public accusation culminated in a separate federal defamation trial in January 2024 that produced an $83.3 million verdict against Donald Trump—$18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages—after jurors found that his public denials and attacks had defamed Carroll [2]. That $83.3 million award is linked to Trump’s 2019 statements denying Carroll’s account and labeling her a liar, and judges have treated the earlier findings from the May 2023 trial as relevant to issues of liability in the later defamation proceeding [2] [4].
2. The May 2023 jury award — $5 million for sexual abuse and defamation
In the trial that concluded in May 2023, a New York jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s and for defaming her, awarding $5 million in total damages; reporting and court summaries characterize that award as the result of a battery claim under New York’s Adult Survivors Act together with a related defamation claim [1] [6]. Coverage and legal summaries note the $5 million figure repeatedly as the outcome of the May 2023 verdict [7] [8].
3. How the $5 million breaks down and how courts connected the two cases
Detailed reporting and legal summaries indicate the May 2023 $5 million award was divided by claim in later explanations—commonly reported as approximately $2 million for the battery (sexual abuse) claim and $3 million for defamation in that same trial—though primary court documents and later appellate briefs frame the two trials as distinct but legally interconnected proceedings [9] [10]. Federal judges overseeing subsequent litigation have relied on findings from the 2023 jury when addressing liability and damages in the separate defamation case that produced the larger $83.3 million judgment [2] [10].
4. Aggregated liability, appeals, and practical limits on “receiving” the money
Observers and outlets summarize the two verdicts as leaving Trump on the hook for roughly $88 million combined—$5 million from May 2023 plus $83.3 million from the January 2024 verdict—but appellate processes, appeals by Trump, and procedural posturing mean award totals can shift or be reduced, and reporting does not definitively document full collection of those sums [3] [2]. Trump has appealed and sought review of aspects of the rulings, and courts have continued to address immunity and scope questions that affect final enforcement [5] [4].
5. Competing narratives and what the reporting shows and does not
Court records and mainstream reporting uniformly record the two monetary awards—$5 million (May 2023) and $83.3 million (Jan 2024)—while noting Trump’s persistent denials, counterclaims, and appeals; these sources also indicate judges have at times found Carroll’s statements “substantially true” in rejecting Trump’s countersuit and have relied on the 2023 findings in later proceedings [11] [2] [4]. The reporting does not, however, provide a clear, contemporaneous accounting of whether and when those awards have been fully collected, or how post-judgment appeals might alter final payout; those remain matters of continued litigation and enforcement beyond the verdict figures cited here [3] [2].