President Donald Trump's legal team submitted a petition to the Supreme Court on July 29, 2026, seeking to reverse a New York jury's 2024 verdict that found him liable for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. This petition follows a federal appeals court's decision in late April to deny Trump's request for a rehearing on the $83 million defamation case, which concluded that Trump defamed Carroll by disputing her claims of sexual abuse from the 1990s.
In the court filings, Trump argued that the appeals court did not address whether his presidential immunity protected him from defamation claims, referencing a Supreme Court decision regarding presidential immunity from 2024. He requested that the justices determine that his statements denying Carroll's accusations were made in his official capacity as president and asked for the U.S. government to be substituted as the defendant, with the Department of Justice seeking to invoke the Westfall Act, which protects government employees from lawsuits related to their official duties.
Trump's attorneys stated, "This is the first case in our nation’s history in which a court has imposed damages liability on a President for his conduct in office," emphasizing that the accusations against him are matters of public concern. They criticized the Second Circuit for avoiding the issue of presidential immunity in their ruling.
Carroll has filed two lawsuits against Trump regarding defamation linked to her sexual abuse claims. She won her first lawsuit in 2023, resulting in a $5 million verdict, and her second lawsuit in 2022, which led to the $83 million verdict. Trump has denied all allegations, suggesting that the timing of Carroll's accusations was suspicious and aimed at promoting her book tour. He has also claimed that Carroll lied about key evidence, including the dress she alleged to have worn during the incident.