An appeals court will consider Friday whether the $5 million judgment against former President Donald Trump in writer E. Jean Carroll’s first trial against him should stand, the first of two multi-million fines he’s been ordered to pay in Carroll’s defamation cases—which have kept accruing millions in interest as Trump’s appeals have played out, adding up to over $90 million.
E. Jean Carroll arrives at Manhattan federal court on May 9, 2023, in New York.
Carroll sued Trump for defamation twice after he publicly attacked her for accusing him of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s, with one case going to trial in May 2023 and the other in January (he has denied the allegations).
A jury ordered Trump to pay $5 million for defamation and sexual abuse—but did not find him liable for rape—in the first trial, which a federal appeals court will hear arguments about on Friday, as Trump claims the district court should not have entered “inflammatory” evidence like the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump bragged about “grab[bing]” women “by the pussy.”
Trump was later ordered to pay $83.3 million after a trial in the second case, which was just to determine damages for defamation since Trump had already been found liable in the first trial.
Interest on both of those judgments keeps accruing until the appeals process ends, with Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan telling Forbes that based on the federal statute determining interest—which pegs the interest rate to the Treasury yield on the date the judgment is entered—Trump is paying interest at a rate of 4.72% on the $5 million judgment and 4.76% on the $83.3 million one.
Based on those interest rates, Forbes estimates Trump now owes approximately $5.3 million in the first trial and $85.3 million in the second—adding up to $91 million in total.
Trump has posted bond in both cases—paying the money he owes into a court-controlled account—which includes enough money to cover interest on the payments, paying $5.5 million in the first case and $91.6 million in the second.
Trump’s attorneys and campaign have not responded to requests for comment.
The appeals court will hear oral arguments in the first Carroll case Friday morning. It’s unclear when they could issue their ruling after that, though attorney Mitchell Epner told Forbes it’s likely to take a few months, predicting a ruling would come out either at the end of this year or beginning of 2025. As Trump is also appealing the other Carroll judgment—which came out months afterwards, and thus hasn’t been scheduled yet for an appeal—Epner said it’s also possible the court could wait to decide both cases at the same time, though it’s unclear if they will. While only the $5 million judgment is up for appeal on Friday, it’s likely that any decision in that case will affect the second $83.3 million fine. The verdict in the first trial formed the basis of the jury’s deliberations in the second, since the second jury just determined damages based on Trump already being found liable for defamation and sexual abuse. That means if the appeals court were to strike down the first jury’s verdict and rule Trump isn’t liable after all, it’s likely the second verdict against Trump would be thrown out as well.
Trump has denied sexually assaulting Carroll and has denied the defamation allegations, and his lawyers have argued in court that Carroll has profited off of her allegations against Trump and used them to her own benefit. The ex-president has continued to attack Carroll, claiming she’s lying and he doesn’t know her, even as the trials against him have moved forward.
No—interest keeps accruing while the case gets appealed and isn’t affected by any orders in the interim. Epner noted to Forbes that appeals are “the whole reason why interest accrues,” as otherwise a defendant could simply keep dragging out a payment for years by appealing a case, and given the rate of inflation, any payment they’d ultimately make at the end of that process would be worth less than if they paid it off on time.
Forbes values Trump’s net worth at $3.9 billion as of Friday morning, ranking him the 874th richest person in the world. Most of his net worth is based on his stake in Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, however, with a smaller portion dominated by real estate. The ex-president only has an estimated $413 million in cash and liquid assets, which is what would be used to cover his legal liabilities. There is no indication that Trump has used donor funds to cover his judgment fees, as he has for paying his lawyers.
In addition to the two judgments against Trump in the Carroll cases, the ex-president has also been ordered to pay $454.2 million in the civil fraud case brought in New York against Trump and his business associates. That judgment is also accruing interest while Trump appeals it, at an approximate rate of more than $100,000 per day.
Carroll sued Trump for defamation in 2019 after publicly accusing him of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s. Trump denied Carroll’s allegations and publicly attacked her in response, claiming the writer isn’t “my type.” The writer’s initial lawsuit is actually the second one that went to trial, after getting stalled in court for years, and Carroll’s second lawsuit, brought under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, was the one that went to trial first. Both trials were based on substantially similar comments, allowing the jury’s ruling in the first trial to affect the second case. Trump has continued to deny Carroll’s claims despite the multi-million dollar judgments against him, leading Carroll’s attorneys to suggest they could bring another lawsuit.
Dan Alexander contributed reporting.