The US Supreme Court has declined to hear US President Donald Trump’s appeal against a $5 million civil damages award to writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexually abusing and later defaming her.

The justices gave no explanation for their decision, as is customary when the court declines to take up a case.

On May 9, 2023, a federal jury in Manhattan found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll, a former magazine columnist, in the fitting room of a New York department store in the 1990s. The jury also found that he had defamed her through public comments made in 2022.

Carroll, now 82, first made the allegation public in a book published in 2019. Trump denied the claim, called her “crazy”, described the allegation as a “set-up” and said she was “not his type”.

The court ordered Trump to pay $2 million in damages for sexual abuse and $3 million for defamation. In December 2024, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the verdict.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump described the Supreme Court’s decision as “unexpected” and said he would “continue the fight” in what he called the “legal war” being waged against him.

E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said the Supreme Court had “once and for all” upheld the unanimous jury verdict finding that President Donald J. Trump had sexually abused and defamed her client. “Today’s decision puts an end to his attempt to evade responsibility for his actions,” she added.

In a separate civil case, Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $83.3 million for defamation. That judgment was also upheld by a federal appeals court.

US media have also reported that prosecutors from Trump’s Department of Justice opened an investigation into Carroll in May over whether she gave false sworn testimony.

According to CNN, prosecutors are examining her statement that she had not received outside financial assistance, after it later emerged that billionaire Reid Hoffman had agreed to pay part of her legal fees.