Timeline of sexual assault accusations against Donald Trump
Executive summary
A cascade of allegations against Donald Trump spans decades, ranging from groping and unwanted kissing to claims of rape; he has denied all wrongdoing and has not been criminally convicted on these charges, though a civil jury found him liable for sexual abuse in one high-profile case [1]. Reporting catalogs dozens of accusers, legal filings, and differing outcomes that together form a contested timeline rather than a single verified criminal record [2] [3].
1. Early claims and reports: 1970s–2005 — scattered but persistent
Accounts collected by news outlets and researchers include women who say incidents occurred as early as the 1970s and through the 1990s and 2000s, alleging unwanted touching, groping and forced kissing in settings from airplanes to social events; for example, Jessica Leeds says she was groped on a plane in the 1970s and Natasha Stoynoff reported an assault at Mar-a-Lago in 2005 [4] [2]. Some allegations emerged in the course of divorce or workplace disputes earlier — Ivana Trump once alleged sexual assault in a 1989 deposition during divorce proceedings, though her statements later changed [4].
2. The 2016 inflection point — Access Hollywood tape and a wave of public accusations
The release in 2016 of a 2005 "Access Hollywood" recording in which Trump boasted about grabbing women without consent catalyzed a public flood of accusations: dozens of women came forward afterward accusing Trump of a range of misconduct, and many media outlets compiled lists of alleged incidents spanning decades [3] [5]. Trump responded by calling the tape "locker room talk" and denying that he had assaulted women; his denials prompted some who said they had been assaulted to go public [6].
3. High-profile named accusations from the 1990s and 2000s
Notable named accusers include E. Jean Carroll, who published a 2019 essay alleging Trump sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s, and Jessica Drake and Summer Zervos, who alleged unwanted kissing or groping in the 2000s; many of these claims were reported widely during the 2016–2019 period [7] [8]. Reporting also details allegations tied to specific dates and locations — for example, The Guardian recounts an allegation of assault in a VIP US Open box on 5 September 1997 [9].
4. E. Jean Carroll: civil trials, verdicts and appeals
Carroll’s civil suits — originally filed as defamation claims after Trump publicly called her a liar — evolved into battery and defamation cases; a 2023 jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in 1996 and awarded damages, a verdict the appeals court later upheld in part, and subsequent rulings adjusted total awards [1] [10] [7]. Courts admitted related evidence including testimony from other women and the Access Hollywood tape under federal rules permitting other-sexual-assault evidence in such trials [11] [7].
5. Allegations involving Jeffrey Epstein and underage claims
Some allegations intersect with reporting on Jeffrey Epstein: anonymous suits and reports have alleged that an underage girl was abused at Epstein-connected parties involving Trump in the 1990s, but those lawsuits were dismissed or withdrawn, and some tips in FBI Epstein file summaries were treated as unverified by authorities and press coverage [6] [12]. News outlets have noted such claims but also reported they were not adjudicated or were dismissed [12] [6].
6. Scale, legal status and campaign implications
Media tallies vary but commonly cite two dozen or more women who alleged misconduct by Trump, with differences in categorization between harassment, assault, and rape claims; while the Carroll civil verdict is the most legally consequential finding to date, Trump has not faced criminal convictions for sexual assault and continues to contest civil rulings on appeal [2] [1] [10]. The mixed legal outcomes and Trump’s public denials have made the allegations central political flashpoints, influencing both supporters’ defenses and critics’ calls for accountability [3] [13].
7. Limits of reporting and contested narratives
Available sources document accusations, lawsuits, jury findings and dismissals, but reporting cannot definitively resolve every contested factual claim; some allegations were withdrawn, others remain unproven in court, and some summaries in released files were treated as uncorroborated by investigators — journalism and litigation together map the controversy but do not erase unresolved disputes [12] [6] [14]. Alternative viewpoints include Trump’s consistent denials and arguments about political motivation, which his allies emphasize alongside legal appeals challenging trial procedures and evidence rulings [6] [11].