M: Janine Carroll had a ruling in her favor against Donald Trump. What’s the current status of her legal efforts as of May 2025
G: As of May 2025, E. Jean Carroll has secured two significant legal victories against Donald Trump, both of which are currently under appeal.
In May 2023, a jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s and defaming her in 2022. The court awarded Carroll $5 million in damages. Trump appealed this decision, but on December 30, 2024, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the verdict, rejecting Trump's claims that the trial was unfair due to the inclusion of certain evidence, such as the "Access Hollywood" tape citeturn0search2turn0news24.
In January 2024, a separate jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages for defamatory statements Trump made in 2019, where he denied the assault allegations and disparaged Carroll's credibility. Trump is currently appealing this verdict. In April 2025, the Department of Justice filed a motion to substitute the United States as the defendant, arguing that Trump's statements were made in his official capacity as president. Carroll's legal team opposes this move, contending that the attempt is untimely and lacks merit citeturn0search6turn0search3.
Carroll's legal team continues to defend the judgments, emphasizing that presidential immunity does not shield Trump from liability in these cases citeturn0search7.