Judge Accelerates Trump Payment Fight in E. Jean Carroll Case

A federal judge has moved to fast-track a dispute over the more than $5 million that President Donald Trump owes writer E. Jean Carroll, raising the possibility that she could receive the money within weeks. Carroll’s legal team asked the court to require immediate payment after the U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear Trump’s appeal, leaving the 2023 judgment against him in place.

The original ruling ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million, plus interest, after a jury found him liable for defamation and sexual abuse. Payment had been delayed while Trump pursued appeals, but Carroll’s attorneys argue that those efforts have now been exhausted. They told the court that Trump’s lawyers requested additional time while the president considers asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision, despite such requests being granted only in exceptionally rare circumstances.

Carroll’s lawyers opposed any further delay, arguing that an earlier agreement between both sides required the funds to be released if the Supreme Court refused to take the case. They also asked Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to shorten the filing schedule by requiring Trump to respond within seven days instead of the standard 14-day period.

Judge Kaplan granted that procedural request on Wednesday, directing Trump to file his response by July 7 and giving Carroll’s attorneys three days to submit their reply. If the judge ultimately rules that no further delay is justified, Carroll could receive the payment as early as mid-July, depending on when the court issues its decision.

According to Carroll’s attorneys, Trump now owes approximately $5.8 million, including the original $5 million judgment and $779,783 in accrued interest as of Tuesday. They noted that Trump has already deposited about $5.5 million into a court-controlled account, but remains responsible for the additional interest that has accumulated.

In their filing, Carroll’s attorneys wrote, “To date, Carroll has agreed to each of Defendant’s many requests to delay the payment he owes her.” They added, “Given the extraordinary lengths he has taken to avoid such payments and that each of those efforts has been denied in full, that cooperation ends today. It is time for him to pay Carroll.”

It remains uncertain how quickly Judge Kaplan will decide whether the payment must be released immediately or whether Trump will attempt to seek reconsideration from the Supreme Court. The $5 million judgment is one of two legal victories Carroll has secured against Trump. In a separate defamation case, Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $83.3 million plus interest, though that judgment is also on hold while it is being appealed. Trump’s legal team has indicated it intends to ask the Supreme Court to review that case, but no formal filing has yet been made.

Trump’s estimated net worth stood at about $6 billion on Wednesday, making both the $5.8 million owed in this case and the larger $83.3 million judgment a relatively small portion of his overall wealth.

The legal dispute stems from Carroll’s allegation that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room during the 1990s, an accusation he has consistently denied. After Carroll publicly shared her claims in 2019, Trump responded with remarks about the writer, prompting her defamation lawsuit. The case that produced the $5 million judgment was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act and was the first of her lawsuits against Trump to reach trial. In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse, though not for rape. A separate jury later awarded Carroll $83.3 million in January 2024 for additional defamatory statements. Trump has continued to describe the litigation as a “witch hunt” while appealing both verdicts, but appellate courts have so far upheld the rulings against him.