US Supreme Court rejects Donald Trump's final rehearing bid in Carroll abuse case

The US Supreme Court rejected Donald Trump's petition for a rehearing on Monday, 17 August 2026, declining to review a 2023 civil jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. The justices announced the decision in an unsigned order list under rehearings denied, offering no explanation for the refusal. The ruling is the second time the top court turned away Trump's challenge, following an initial rejection in June 2026. Carroll's legal team welcomed the decision as the formal conclusion of the litigation.

We are pleased that the United States Supreme Court has declined again to hear this case. As a result, the jury's unanimous verdict that Donald Trump sexually assaulted and then defamed E. Jean Carroll is now final and cannot be challenged in any court.

Escrow funds and department store allegations

The denial leaves in place the 5 million dollar civil judgment awarded to Carroll by a federal jury in Manhattan following a two-week trial in 2023. Carroll, an 82-year-old former magazine columnist, testified that Trump attacked her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s. The jury determined that Trump sexually abused Carroll and subsequently defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post where he called her claims a hoax and stated she was not his type.

Trump deposited the 5 million dollar award alongside accrued interest into a court-monitored escrow account pending his appeals. Following the Supreme Court's initial denial in June 2026, a federal judge ordered the release of the funds, resulting in the disbursement of approximately 5.63 million dollars to Carroll's legal team on 9 July 2026. Trump's lawyers sought an injunction demanding the return of the money while requesting a rehearing, an effort that Carroll's attorneys described in court filings as an attempt to forestall payment.

Appeals and evidentiary challenges

Throughout the appellate process, Trump's defence team argued that the trial judge committed procedural errors that affected the jury. His lawyers contended that the court should not have permitted jurors to view the 2005 Access Hollywood video, in which Trump made crude remarks about groping women. A three-judge panel of the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reviewed the trial proceedings and upheld the verdict in 2024.

Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations and labelled the proceedings as politically motivated. Following the court's June decision, Trump stated on Truth Social that he had never met Carroll and described the litigation as an example of lawfare against him.

I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength.

The separate defamation judgment

While Monday's order exhausts Trump's challenges to the 2023 verdict, the Supreme Court is still considering a separate petition involving the two parties. In January 2024, a second federal civil jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll 83.3 million dollars in damages for defamatory comments he made about her in 2019 while serving as president. A federal appeals court upheld that 83.3 million dollar award in September 2025.

Trump's lawyers have petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn that larger judgment, arguing that presidential immunity shields his 2019 public statements from civil liability. The justices are expected to address that appeal later in 2026.