The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has denied former President Donald Trump’s request for a full panel review of his civil liability in the case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, effectively upholding an $83.3 million judgment against him.
The court issued its decision on Wednesday, rejecting Trump’s petitions for en banc review of his claims of presidential immunity in the civil rape and defamation case. The ruling maintains the substantial financial award granted to Carroll, who alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room during the mid-1990s.
Circuit Judge Denny Chin, writing for the majority, stated that no other defendant would be permitted to move to substitute the United States in their place fifteen months after trial and the entry of judgment. The majority opinion concluded that the court had correctly determined presidential immunity is waivable and that Trump had indeed waived it in this case.
“If any other litigant had failed to raise an affirmative defense in this way, there would be no question as to whether he waived his right to assert it,” Chin wrote in the opinion.
Circuit Judge Steven Menashi authored a dissenting opinion supporting the grant of both petitions for en banc rehearing, characterizing both decisions as erroneous. Menashi argued that the majority’s affirmation created a circuit split with the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Wasserman v. Rodacker regarding the Westfall Act.
The dissent maintained that Trump had consistently raised the defense of presidential immunity throughout the litigation, including in his initial answer to the complaint, a motion for summary judgment, a motion to amend the answer, an answer to the amended complaint, and his appeal. Menashi was joined in dissent by Circuit Judge Michael Park and partially by Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston.
Carroll’s legal journey against Trump began with her first trial in 2023, where she claimed Trump defamed her in 2019 by denying he had ever met her after she published a book recounting the alleged assault at Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue. That initial jury awarded her $2 million in compensatory damages after finding Trump liable, plus $20,000 in punitive damages. On the defamation count, Trump was ordered to pay $1.7 million for a reputation repair program and $1 million in other damages.
The second defamation lawsuit resulted in the substantially larger verdict in January 2024, when a New York City jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million, comprising $65 million in punitive damages and $18.3 million in compensatory damages.
In June 2025, a Second Circuit panel had already affirmed the verdict in Carroll’s first trial and rejected Trump’s earlier petitions for en banc rehearing on his bid for reversal and retrial. Trump’s defense team had attempted to convince the appeals court to overturn the jury awards based on presidential immunity arguments that had previously failed during pretrial proceedings and in a September 2025 ruling.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, expressed satisfaction with the ruling, stating that Carroll is eager for the case, originally filed in 2019, to conclude so she can finally obtain justice. Trump continues to deny sexually assaulting Carroll or having ever met her.
The decision represents a significant legal setback for Trump, who had sought to use presidential immunity as a shield against the civil liability. The court’s rejection of the en banc review request means the substantial monetary judgment remains intact, and Trump’s options for further appeal are increasingly limited.
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