On July 28, 2026, President Trump and the Department of Justice filed petitions with the Supreme Court to challenge a civil court ruling that mandated Trump pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for defamation. This case is notable as it marks the first instance where a court has held a sitting president liable for damages related to conduct during their time in office.
Trump's legal team argues that he should be immune from the defamation claim because the comments in question were made while he was president in 2019.
The DOJ supports this by asserting that it should have been allowed to replace Trump with the U.S. government as the defendant, which would have led to the case's dismissal under the Westfall Act, protecting federal employees from certain civil claims.
This legal battle follows a previous ruling where a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and for defaming her, resulting in a $5 million verdict, which Carroll has since received along with interest.
The implications of this case could influence how future defamation claims against sitting presidents are handled, potentially affecting the legal landscape surrounding presidential immunity