Federal jury finds Trump liable for defamation in Carroll I, awards $83.3 million in damages

A federal jury awarded E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in defamation damages against Donald Trump on January 26, 2024 — the largest individual defamation verdict against a sitting or former U.S. president. Judge Lewis Kaplan presided; the jury found Trump's social media attacks on Carroll's credibility after the May 2023 verdict constituted further defamation. Trump did not attend the trial and continued attacking Carroll publicly during proceedings. The judgment became the target of two parallel DOJ gambits after Trump's return to office in 2025.