Who are the women who have publicly accused Donald Trump of sexual assault and what are the alleged timelines?
Executive summary
At least dozens of women have publicly accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct spanning from the 1970s through the 2010s; reporting and compilations commonly cite figures ranging from “more than a dozen” to as many as the high 20s or higher depending on inclusion criteria (e.g., Business Insider counts 26, Reuters/PBS cite “more than a dozen,” and other outlets have tallies up to 69) [1] [2] [3]. The most legally consequential allegation — by writer E. Jean Carroll — concerns an incident she says occurred in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid‑1990s and resulted in civil jury findings of liability and multi‑million dollar damages against Trump [4] [5].
1. A crowded field: how many accusers and why counts differ
Different outlets report different totals because they use different criteria — some count only women who explicitly accused Trump of sexual assault, others include harassment or unwelcome touching, and some include anonymous or recanted claims; Business Insider listed 26 accusers as of 2023, Reuters in 2019 described “more than a dozen,” while other reporting has compiled larger aggregates up to dozens more depending on scope [1] [2] [6]. These differences reflect editorial choices about what qualifies as “sexual assault” versus “inappropriate conduct,” and whether unnamed confirmations or dropped lawsuits are included [6] [7].
2. The most prominent, litigated case: E. Jean Carroll (mid‑1990s)
E. Jean Carroll publicly said Trump sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in late 1995 or early 1996; a New York jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her and awarded damages, a decision upheld in subsequent appeals processes cited in reporting [4] [5]. Carroll’s claim is the one that produced civil liability in court, and coverage emphasizes that it stands apart legally from many other public allegations [5] [4].
3. Accusations spanning decades: common timelines reported
Journalistic timelines assembled by outlets like The Guardian, Time and PBS map allegations from the late 1970s (e.g., Jessica Leeds) through the 1980s, 1990s and into the 2000s and 2010s, with incidents described at pageants, nightclubs, private dinners, the U.S. Open and Mar‑a‑Lago [7] [8] [9]. Examples frequently cited include alleged plane molestation in the late 1970s, nightclub and VIP‑box incidents in the early 1990s, Mar‑a‑Lago alleged assaults in the early 1990s, and a New Year’s Eve allegation at Mar‑a‑Lago in the early 2000s [6] [9] [2].
4. Cases with legal filings, settlements or dropped suits
Some accusers filed suits or were involved in legal proceedings; Jill Harth filed a suit alleging an attempted assault in January 1993 at Mar‑a‑Lago that was later dropped, and other allegations have appeared in lawsuits or depositions at various times — yet many claims did not result in criminal charges and some civil cases were settled or dismissed [2] [10]. News outlets note that non‑litigated public accusations and lawsuits have had varied legal outcomes, which affects public and legal assessments [10] [11].
5. Media compilations, corroboration and evidentiary treatment
Major outlets have compiled names and timelines — Time published a chronological list in 2019; Reuters prepared a factbox; PBS and The Guardian produced recaps and timelines — and courts in the Carroll case permitted testimony about other alleged incidents under rules that allow evidence of other sexual assaults in relevant trials, a contested legal step Trump challenged on appeal [7] [2] [12].
6. Disputes, denials and political context
Trump and his spokespeople have uniformly denied wrongdoing, framed many accusations as politically motivated, and in several instances called allegations “fabricated” or “false”; reporting also notes the Access Hollywood tape and its role in catalyzing later public accusations [1] [13] [5]. Coverage points out that political and media contexts shaped both the timing of disclosures (notably many surfaced during 2016) and public reception [13] [7].
7. What these sources do not settle
Available sources do not mention a single, definitive list universally accepted by all outlets; counts and the legal status of each allegation vary by source. They do not provide criminal convictions against Trump for these accusations beyond civil liability found in the Carroll case [5] [4]. For many named women, reporting records alleged dates and settings, but outcomes (settlement, dropped suit, no charges) differ and are documented unevenly across the cited pieces [2] [11].
Limitations and takeaway: compilations by major news organizations and court records show a pattern of dozens of public accusations across decades, with E. Jean Carroll’s mid‑1990s allegation the only one to produce a civil finding of liability so far; counts and timelines differ by outlet because of scope and definitional choices, and courts and journalists treat individual claims differently depending on evidence and legal action [1] [4] [5].