Donald Trump, 76, is liable for battery and defamation in a civil trial stemming from allegations he raped E. Jean Carroll, 79, a federal jury in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States decided on May 9, 2023. Required to reach a unanimous verdict, the jury of three women deliberated for just under three hours.

Carroll was awarded $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages but Trump will not have to pay so long as the case is on appeal. He will appeal, according his lawyer Joseph Tacopina, 57, a name partner and lead trial attorney at his law firm Tacopina, Seigel & DeOreo in Manhattan.

During the civil trial, which started on April 25, 2023, Carroll testified that in either 1995 or 1996, Trump raped her in a dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan. He was absent throughout the trial.

Trump took to Truth Social to call the verdict a disgrace and emphasize that he does not know Carroll. He faces no criminal consequences because it was a civil case.

From January 20, 2017 to January 20, 2021, Trump served as the 45th U.S. president. On October 20, 2021, he founded Truth Social, which was launched on February 21, 2022.

On November 24, 2022, Carroll sued Trump for battery in New York under the Adult Survivors Act, which allows sexual assault victims to file civil suits regardless of expired statutes of limitations. On April 13, 2023, she disclosed that part of her legal expenses were funded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.