Fact check: Did Trump ever settle any of the sexual assault lawsuits out of court?

1. The high‑profile hush‑money episode that looks like a settlement but is legally distinct

The public narrative often treats the 2016 Stormy Daniels transaction as a classic settlement of a sexual‑misconduct claim; in fact, Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 to Daniels to obtain a nondisclosure agreement, and Trump later acknowledged directing the payment ^[1]. The reporting and timelines characterize that payment as an effort to forestall publicity about an alleged affair rather than a negotiated civil judgment in a pending sexual‑assault lawsuit; the arrangement functioned as a private resolution to silence a claimant and has been litigated in related criminal and civil probes ^{[5] [6]}. Framing this as an “out‑of‑court settlement” is accurate in the practical sense of resolving a claim privately, but it differs procedurally from a court‑approved settlement or liability admission.

2. Summer Zervos’s case ended without money but with formal closure

Summer Zervos sued Donald Trump for defamation after accusing him of sexual misconduct; that litigation concluded in a settlement in which both parties agreed to end the case and Zervos was allowed to speak freely, with no monetary award to Zervos reported ^[2]. The April 7, 2025 report described the settlement as ending the litigation without compensation, effectively closing that particular civil dispute through negotiation rather than trial. This outcome illustrates a form of out‑of‑court resolution where avoiding protracted litigation and the uncertainties of trial, along with the desire to place no financial burden on the defendant, can drive parties to a non‑monetary agreement.

3. E. Jean Carroll’s cases produced jury verdicts and appellate upholds, not settlements

By contrast, E. Jean Carroll pursued litigation that resulted in jury verdicts against Trump, including an initial sexual‑abuse finding and significant defamation awards. A federal appellate court upheld a roughly $5 million civil judgment tied to sexual‑abuse claims and later affirmed an $83.3 million defamation judgment on appeal, rejecting Trump’s challenges and requests for rehearing ^{[3] [4] [7] [8]}. These are court‑entered judgments resolved through trial and appeal rather than negotiated out‑of‑court settlements; they demonstrate instances where claimants secured enforceable monetary penalties rather than private agreements, and they show the judiciary’s role in resolving contested credibility and damages issues.

4. How media framing and legal labels can confuse the record

News accounts and summaries sometimes conflate hush‑money payments, confidentiality agreements, defamation settlements, and jury verdicts under the umbrella of “settlements” or “paid claims,” which can mislead non‑lawyers. The Stormy Daniels payment is widely described as a payoff and has been treated in public discourse as a settlement of a potential claim, yet it was executed via a nondisclosure agreement arranged by Cohen rather than a courtroom settlement ^{[1] [5]}. Accurate legal distinctions matter: a private payment or NDA can resolve exposure risk without adjudication, while a settlement filed with a court or a jury verdict represents formal legal resolution and potential enforceability.

5. What the pattern shows about Trump’s civil exposure and strategy

Taken together, the record shows both private resolutions and litigated defeats: some accusers reached out‑of‑court closures (Daniels’ NDA payment, Zervos’s non‑monetary settlement), while others obtained jury awards (Carroll) that withstood appellate review ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [7]}. Political and legal actors interpret these outcomes differently—supporters emphasize non‑admissions and settled cases; critics emphasize validated jury findings and large damages. For a reader seeking an accurate account, the key is that Trump has sometimes settled or paid privately and at other times lost at trial and on appeal, and the legal implications differ significantly between those categories.