Have Donald Trump or his companies paid any part of the $5 million defamation judgment to E. Jean Carroll by December 2025?

1. The $5 million judgment: what jurors decided and what courts affirmed

A federal jury in May 2023 found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll and for defaming her, awarding a total of $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages; subsequent reporting and court records show that appeals courts affirmed that $5 million judgment, including a Second Circuit decision and coverage noting the court officially affirmed the verdict and started the clock for further appeals in 2025 ^{[1] [4] [2]}.

2. Appeals and procedural history that kept the money from immediate movement

Trump pursued multiple appeals and sought rehearings — including requests for en banc review and later petitions to the Supreme Court — and courts repeatedly denied or narrowed those requests through 2025; those steps are why the legal status of the judgment remained in litigation even after judges and panels affirmed the underlying award ^{[3] [4] [2] [5]}.

3. Reporting on payments — the available record is silent

None of the provided sources report that Trump or any of his companies made a payment toward the $5 million judgment by December 2025. Major outlets that covered the verdict, the appeals, and later Supreme Court petitions recount the awards and appeals but do not describe an executed payment or settlement reducing that $5 million balance ^{[1] [2] [5] [6]}.

4. Why news coverage would emphasize payment only if it happened

News outlets and legal databases cited in the provided results document jury awards, bond requirements and appeals filings; when high‑profile defendants pay or satisfy judgments, that fact typically appears in the same legal and financial coverage. The absence of such reporting in these sources indicates that a payment event did not appear in the articles cited here ^{[4] [2] [5]}.

5. Separate $83.3 million award: a parallel and distinct development

Reporting also documents a separate, larger defamation award — $83.3 million — from a later jury and subsequent appeals, which the Second Circuit and other outlets described as distinct from the original $5 million verdict. Coverage notes that Trump’s legal team posted a bond to appeal the larger award; that separate litigation track complicates public understanding of what outstanding obligations Trump might face, but again the sources do not say any of those judgments were paid by December 2025 ^{[7] [8] [9]}.

6. Competing perspectives contained in the sources

Court filings and Trump spokespeople framed the litigation as politically motivated and signaled continued appeals, while Carroll’s lawyers emphasized that courts had rejected Trump’s challenges and that their client “remains pleased” with decisions upholding the awards. The reporting shows two clear narratives: Carroll’s camp treating the judgments as final and enforceable, and Trump’s camp continuing to press appellate and Supreme Court review ^{[6] [2] [5]}.

7. Limits of available sources and what would be needed to prove payment

The documents supplied here are robust on verdicts, appeals and petitions to higher courts but do not include post‑judgment enforcement records, bank statements, satisfaction-of-judgment filings, or a news item explicitly reporting receipt of funds. To confirm a payment, one would need a clerk’s docket entry showing satisfaction of judgment, a court filing from Carroll’s attorneys confirming receipt, or contemporaneous reporting stating Trump or an insurer paid the $5 million — none of which appear in the provided material ^{[4] [3] [1]}.

8. Bottom line for readers seeking certainty

Based on the reporting and court records provided, the $5 million verdict was affirmed through appeals and remained subject to further appellate petitions through late 2025, and the available sources do not report that Trump or his companies paid any part of that $5 million by December 2025 (available sources do not mention a payment) ^{[1] [2] [3]}.