Donald Trump sexually abused writer E Jean Carroll, civil trial jury finds
Donald Trump has been found liable for battery and defamation, after a civil trial jury found he sexually abused writer E Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
The jury rejected the rape claim but awarded the former Elle magazine advice columnist $5m (£4m) in damages.
The nine-person jury began discussing the battery and defamation lawsuit on Tuesday and deliberated for just under three hours.
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Ms Carroll, 79, had claimed that the former US president raped her in a department store changing room in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996.
She said he defamed her by claiming she made up the story and was seeking compensation and punitive damages.
Trump, who did not attend the trial, has insisted he never sexually assaulted Ms Carroll or even knew her. He has called the verdict a “disgrace” on his Truth Social platform.
Trump said: “I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. This verdict is a disgrace – a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”
‘We are very happy’
E Jean Carroll leaving Manhattan Federal Court following the verdict
The former US president, campaigning to retake the White House in 2024, will appeal, his spokesman Steven Cheung said. Trump will not have to pay so long as the case is on appeal.
Because this was a civil case, Trump faces no criminal consequences.
Former Trump aide Sean Spicer has said the charge of rape would have “stung a lot” for Donald Trump.
He said to “keep in mind this is a civil proceeding not a criminal proceeding”, but added: “It’s never a good thing to have a verdict against you… especially of this nature.”
Mr Spicer said the “optics do matter in politics, but I think if you were president Trump right now… the charge of rape would have stung a lot”.
Ms Carroll was spotted leaving the courthouse smiling and getting into a car. She and her lawyer Roberta Kaplan did not stop to speak outside court, but Ms Kaplan said “we are very happy”.
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Former aide says the charge would have ‘stung a lot’ for Trump
‘Inconsistent verdict’, Trump’s lawyer says
Speaking outside the court, Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina said it was an “inconsistent verdict” but added that he was happy Trump “was not branded a rapist”.
He said: “For me it’s about the results. While it was strange, part of me was obviously very happy that Donald Trump was not branded a rapist I didn’t think there should be any liability findings so we’ll pursue that.”
Mr Tacopina described it as a “circus atmosphere” and added that having Trump there “would be more of a circus”.
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During the trial, Ms Carroll testified and told jurors Trump “shattered” her reputation.
Her defamation claim concerns an October 2022 post on Truth Social in which he called her allegations a “complete con job” and “a hoax and a lie.”
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Moment Trump confuses rape accuser with ex-wife
In closing remarks on Monday, Ms Carroll’s lawyers said Trump “didn’t even bother to show up in person” to the trial and called him a “witness against himself”.
During the seven-day trial, jurors were also shown a deposition by Trump confusing Ms Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples in a photograph – which Ms Carroll’s lawyers said undermines the former president’s argument that she was not his type.
Trump’s lawyers previously said Ms Carroll has “abused the system” for “money, status and political reasons”. The former president waived his right to testify at trial and opted not to present a defence.
Ms Carroll first made her accusations in a 2019 memoir.
She testified that she had a chance encounter with Trump at the Bergdorf Goodman store across the street from Trump Tower.
She said it was a light-hearted interaction in which they teased each other about trying on a piece of lingerie before Trump became violent inside a dressing room.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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