By Blessing Nweke
A federal appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump does not have to immediately pay the $83 million defamation award granted to writer E. Jean Carroll while he seeks review from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York issued the order Monday, temporarily halting enforcement of the judgment as Trump continues his legal challenge. The court acted after Trump requested a pause on its earlier decision denying him a rehearing before the full appeals court.
Judges agreed to the delay after Carroll’s legal team said they would not oppose the request if Trump increased the bond securing the judgment by an additional $7.46 million. The increase is intended to cover interest expected to accumulate during what could become a lengthy appeals process reaching the Supreme Court.
Carroll attorney Roberta Kaplan welcomed the ruling’s financial condition, noting that Trump had already posted a bond exceeding $91 million before the latest increase.
“We are pleased that the Second Circuit conditioned the stay on President Trump posting a bond of nearly $100 million,” Kaplan said in a statement to NBC News.
Representatives for Trump did not immediately comment on the decision.
Trump’s lawyers are also attempting to replace him in the lawsuit with the U.S. government under a federal statute that protects government employees acting within official duties. If successful, the move could effectively end Carroll’s lawsuit because the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.
A jury ruled in 2024 that Trump defamed Carroll by repeatedly denying her accusation that he sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. Trump is now seeking Supreme Court review in both the $83 million judgment and a separate $5 million defamation case Carroll also won.
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