Trump has been ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll the full $5.8 million she was awarded, marking a decisive turn in a dispute that has dragged on for years. A federal court has directed that the damages be released to the writer, well after a jury determined that the US president had sexually assaulted and defamed her.

A Judge Loses Patience

The decision came from US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, who ordered that the funds, parked in escrow for a long stretch, be turned over to the former Elle magazine columnist. His written explanation left little doubt about how he viewed the delays.

Kaplan pointed out that the defendant had been dragging the case out for years and said the moment had arrived for him to satisfy the judgment. In plain terms, the court had run out of patience with the stalling.

That ruling arrived on the heels of the US Supreme Court declining to hear Trump’s challenge to the original 2023 verdict. Under that judgment, he was ordered to pay $2 million tied to the sexual assault finding and an additional $3 million for defamatory comments. The extra $800,000 represents interest that has built up over time.

Where It All Started

Carroll, now 82, first brought her accusations to light in a 2019 memoir, saying Trump had assaulted her inside a New York City department store years before. When those claims became public, Trump was in the middle of his first term as president.

His response was combative. He accused her of inventing the story, claimed he had never even known her, and, in an interview, brushed off the allegation by saying she was not his type.

Trump Fights to Halt the Payment

Even after the order came down, Trump’s lawyers made clear they intended to keep battling. They promised further appeals and characterized the entire case as a politically driven scheme.

A spokesperson released a sharply worded statement portraying the litigation as one piece of a larger partisan campaign against the president, branding the Carroll claims a hoax and calling for an immediate stop to what they described as politically funded attacks.

In their filings, Trump’s attorneys contended that Kaplan’s order should not move forward because Trump had petitioned the Supreme Court to reconsider its stance. That argument did not hold. Late on Wednesday, a judge on the US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the bid to block the transfer of the money.

Carroll’s legal team pressed the opposite point, noting she had already waited more than three years for the verdict to be paid and should not be made to wait any further. They argued it was time for the case to finally end.

Another Battle Still Looms

This $5.8 million payout is not the last of Trump’s financial exposure in his dealings with Carroll. He is also appealing a separate $83.3 million award that a different Manhattan jury handed her in a 2024 defamation case.

For the moment, though, this portion of the long-running saga looks to be reaching its conclusion, more than three years after jurors first ruled in Carroll’s favor.