What civil lawsuits are pending against Donald Trump and what are their claims?
Executive summary
Donald Trump faces multiple civil lawsuits and administrative challenges ranging from state fraud claims to class actions over immigration directives; significant civil matters include New York AG Letitia James’s fraud suit (rulings upholding liability and penalties) and ongoing appeals over a $1 million sanction for a dismissed Clinton/Comey suit (appeals court upheld the penalty) [1] [2]. Courts are also reviewing class-action challenges to his birthright-citizenship directive, with the Supreme Court agreeing to decide the issue after lower courts found constitutional problems [3].
1. New York civil fraud case — “major financial penalties and corporate bans”
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump and the Trump Organization alleging years of inflated asset valuations to obtain favorable loans and insurance; a state judge found Trump liable for fraud and ordered hundreds of millions in penalties and corporate leadership bans — rulings that have been litigated on appeal but remain a cornerstone civil exposure for Trump [1] [4]. Time and Wikipedia reporting summarize that the trial judge imposed monetary judgments (Engoron’s ruling) and restrictions barring Trump from serving as an officer or director of a New York corporation for a set period; those remedies have been subject to further appeals [1] [4].
2. E. Jean Carroll and related defamation/assault suits — unresolved appeals and damages
Writer E. Jean Carroll brought civil suits against Trump over her allegation of sexual assault and subsequent public statements; courts awarded a damages verdict in at least one case and Trump has pursued appellate and Supreme Court avenues to overturn or narrow those outcomes (available sources do not mention the precise current status beyond Time’s summary) [1]. Time’s reporting places Carroll’s lawsuits among the high-profile civil cases that have followed Trump for years [1].
3. The $1 million penalty for a “frivolous” Clinton–Comey lawsuit
A federal appeals court recently upheld a nearly $1 million sanction against Trump and lawyer Alina Habba for filing a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, James Comey and others that a judge deemed frivolous and an “abuse of judicial resources” [2]. The appeals court rejected Trump’s bid to reinstate the underlying 2022 racketeering-style suit and affirmed the district court’s decision that the filing constituted sanctionable misconduct, requiring Trump and Habba to pay legal fees [2] [5].
4. Class actions and national-policy suits — birthright citizenship and executive orders
Multiple civil challenges target Trump administration policies rather than personal conduct. Notably, class-action lawsuits by parents and children challenge Trump’s directive limiting birthright citizenship; lower courts concluded the directive violated the 14th Amendment and federal law, and the Supreme Court agreed to decide the legality, elevating that dispute into the nation’s highest court [3] [6]. Civil-rights organizations such as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and others have tracked and filed suits against administration actions affecting immigration, race-based programs, and access to services [6].
5. Litigation against the administration — hundreds of suits and policy-focused claims
Journalists and legal trackers document an extraordinarily high volume of lawsuits challenging Trump administration actions in 2025, with dozens to hundreds of cases addressing executive orders on prisons, elections, immigration and other policies; sources estimate hundreds of suits and maintain trackers for ongoing litigation (Lawfare, Just Security, The Fulcrum) [7] [8] [9] [10]. These are civil cases in the sense of litigation over policy, but they differ from private-party civil suits because many seek injunctions against government directives rather than monetary damages [7] [8].
6. Where reporting disagrees or leaves gaps
Coverage varies on whether certain civil matters are “against Trump” personally or against his administration: AP and other outlets distinguish personal civil liabilities (fraud, defamation) from suits challenging executive actions [11] [7]. Available sources do not contain a single, consolidated list of every pending civil suit with claims and status; instead, reporters and trackers (AP, Time, Lawfare, Just Security, Fulcrum) compile overlapping but not identical inventories [11] [8] [9]. For specifics on every pending private-party lawsuit against Trump (dates, charges, damages sought) available sources do not provide a comprehensive table in this packet.
7. What to watch next
Major appellate proceedings — including the Supreme Court’s docket on the birthright-citizenship challenge and appeals in the New York fraud case and E. Jean Carroll matters — will determine whether significant remedies stand or are narrowed [3] [1]. The $1 million sanction decision, now affirmed by an appeals court, signals judicial scrutiny of litigation tactics and may influence future filings by or against Trump [2]. Tracking projects from Lawfare, Just Security and civil-rights groups will show the evolving caseload against administration policies [8] [7] [6].
Limitations: this account synthesizes the provided reporting and trackers; it does not claim to catalogue every pending civil suit and notes that some sources focus on policy litigation while others detail personal civil suits [8] [9] [11].