Donald Trump abandons appeal against payment of $5.6 million in damages to Jean Carroll, who accused him of rape

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday dropped the lawsuit in which he had sought to suspend payment of $5.6 million in damages to writer Jean Carroll, after the civil judgment concerning sexual assault and defamation became final in the United States.

The sum, representing damages and interest, had been held in a court account and transferred in July to Carroll after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Trump's appeal. By dropping the new action, the president can no longer recover this money.

Jean Carroll, 82, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in 1996, in a dressing room at a Manhattan department store. Trump denied the allegations and maintained that he had never met her.

In May 2023, a court ordered him to pay five million dollars. The appeals court upheld the verdict, awarding $2.02 million in damages for sexual assault and $2.98 million for defamation. The judges cited, among other things, an audio recording and testimony concerning a possible pattern of behavior.

In a second trial, Trump was ordered in January 2024 to pay Carroll $83.3 million for defamation. That ruling was upheld on appeal, but the payment has not yet been made.