Which allegations against Donald Trump resulted in civil suits or settlements, and what were their outcomes?
Executive summary
A range of allegations against Donald Trump—business fraud, sexual misconduct, consumer fraud tied to Trump University, unauthorized use of music and media defamation claims, and dozens of smaller private disputes—have produced civil suits, some trials, and multiple settlements; outcomes have ranged from jury findings of liability and large judgments to confidential or negotiated payouts and dismissed claims [1] [2] [3]. Reporting shows a pattern in which high-profile cases produced enforceable awards or public settlements while many other litigations ended in sealed or negotiated resolutions whose terms remain partly opaque [4] [5].
1. Business fraud allegations: the New York AG civil suit and related judgments
New York Attorney General Letitia James brought a civil fraud suit alleging Trump inflated his net worth to enrich himself, a case that produced a civil trial and later rulings that exposed the Trump Organization to major monetary liability and business restrictions, with courts moving to determine damages and explore business bans for Trump and associates [6] [1]. Reporting shows that the civil track of financial allegations has been the most consequential for his balance sheet: Reuters summarized that Trump was “still fighting to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars for losses in civil lawsuits,” reflecting judgments and appeals in such fraud matters [1].
2. Sexual-assault and defamation suits: E. Jean Carroll and the resulting civil finding
Author E. Jean Carroll sued Trump for defamation and sexual assault; a jury later found Trump civilly liable for sexual abuse and imposed damages for defamation in related proceedings, a rare civil finding on conduct that had also been the subject of public dispute and criminal investigations elsewhere [2]. Media coverage framed the Carroll verdict as a distinct category of civil liability—an award for tort and reputational harms rather than a criminal conviction—and noted courts characterized the ruling as Trump being liable for “sexual abuse” in civil proceedings [2].
3. Consumer fraud and Trump University: class actions and settlements
Class-action litigation tied to Trump University proceeded in multiple states and resulted in settlements and simultaneous litigation outcomes; federal judges allowed claimants from several states to proceed and the matter later resolved through settlement frameworks and state investigations, illustrating how consumer-fraud allegations were litigated across jurisdictions rather than exclusively in criminal courts [3]. Coverage indicates Trump counterclaims and ethics inquiries arose during these fights, underscoring how commercial allegations intersected with political and regulatory scrutiny [3].
4. Media, music and defamation suits that yielded multimillion-dollar settlements
Trump’s litigation strategy against media outlets and platforms produced a string of high-dollar settlements and payouts: reporting cites multimillion-dollar settlements with major media entities and platforms—Paramount ($16 million), ABC ($15 million), Meta ($25 million), YouTube ($24.5 million) and Twitter/X ($10 million)—and notes Trump has filed repetitive suits seeking large damages that often end in negotiated resolutions [7]. Those settlements have borne two interpretations in coverage: critics call them coercive “extortion-style” nuisance suits while supporters frame them as legitimate defenses of reputation; the money from some media settlements has even been reported as earmarked for projects tied to Trump’s public legacy [7] [2].
5. A long tail of sealed deals, small-dollar settlements and unresolved claims
Beyond headline cases, Trump’s legal record includes many private or sealed settlements and smaller suits—property disputes like the Vera Coking case ended in a contractor settlement for $90,000, family and inheritance disputes produced sealed agreements, and a history of thousands of suits has produced outcomes often kept confidential or resolved on terms unknown to the public [3] [5] [4]. Journalistic inventories emphasize that while some landmark civil verdicts imposed concrete monetary or business penalties, a significant portion of Trump-related litigation ends in settlements or sealed terms that limit public understanding of the full financial and legal consequences [5] [4].