A federal judge ordered the release of $5.8 million to writer E. Jean Carroll from a court account, ending Donald Trump’s multi-year delay tactics.
A federal judge in Manhattan has ordered that writer E. Jean Carroll be paid more than $5.8 million that U.S. President Donald Trump owes her from a major civil lawsuit. On Wednesday, July 8, 2026, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Donald Trump’s latest attempt to freeze the funds. The judge instructed a court clerk to immediately release the total amount, which consists of the original $5 million jury award plus accumulated interest, from a secure, court-controlled bank account.
The original conflict began when a New York jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the mid-1990s inside a luxury Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room. The jury also found that Trump defamed Carroll by calling her allegations a hoax on social media. Because it was a civil trial rather than a criminal one, Trump was not sentenced to prison but was instead ordered to pay damages. To pause the payment while he appealed the decision, Trump was required to deposit the money into a court-controlled escrow account back in 2023.
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Trump’s legal team fiercely resisted Wednesday’s payout order. His lawyers argued that the money should stay in the lockbox because they plan to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its refusal to hear the case. Judge Kaplan strongly dismissed this request, stating that Trump has been stalling the case for years and that it is finally time for him to pay the judgment. Representatives for Trump quickly responded by filing an emergency notice of appeal to a federal appeals court to stop the transfer, calling the entire situation a politically motivated “witch hunt” and “liberal lawfare.” However, the appeals court rejected Trump’s emergency freeze request just hours later.
The 82-year-old Carroll, a former magazine advice columnist, has successfully held Trump legally accountable in multiple trials. Beyond this $5.8 million payout, a separate Manhattan jury in January 2024 awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million for a different instance of defamation by Trump. That massive second judgment is currently working its way through a separate federal appeals process. For now, legal experts note that Judge Kaplan’s order means the money for the first trial will likely reach Carroll’s hands very soon, signaling an end to the primary chapter of this lengthy legal battle.
