Trump urges Supreme Court to overturn E. Jean Carroll’s $83M defamation verdict

Key Points:

• President Donald Trump has appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn an $83.3 million defamation verdict by claiming presidential immunity for statements made while in office, citing a 2024 ruling granting broad immunity to presidents for official actions.
• The appeal argues that holding a sitting president liable for damages related to official conduct would harm both current and future presidents and questions whether the U.S. government, rather than Trump personally, should be the defendant.
• A federal appeals court upheld the defamation award and rejected Trump’s immunity claims, noting he raised them late in the litigation, and the full 2nd Circuit declined to revisit the decision.
• The Justice Department has indicated it may intervene under the Westfall Act to substitute the United States as the defendant, which could end the case, but the Supreme Court will not consider the appeal until the fall session.
• This legal battle follows a separate $5 million verdict against Trump for sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll, which the Supreme Court recently declined to hear, and Trump continues to contest both cases.