The 2nd Circuit paused Trump's $83 million Carroll defamation payment pending a Supreme Court petition, conditioning the stay on a $7.46 million bond increase.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has granted President Donald Trump a stay of the $83 million defamation judgment won by E. Jean Carroll, halting any payment obligation until the Supreme Court acts on Trump's anticipated certiorari petition [1]. The stay was not unconditional. The court required Trump to increase his existing bond by $7.46 million to account for interest accruing during the delay [1]. The ruling follows the 2nd Circuit's earlier denial of en banc rehearing, which left the underlying judgment intact and cleared the path for Trump to seek Supreme Court review [2].
The case, Carroll v. Trump, stems from a defamation verdict entered against Trump in federal district court in New York [1]. Carroll sued after Trump publicly denied her sexual assault allegations and made statements a jury found to be defamatory. The $83 million award, covering compensatory and punitive damages, stands as one of the largest defamation judgments against any U.S. president [1]. Trump's legal team moved the 2nd Circuit to pause enforcement of that judgment on May 6, 2026, arguing that a cert petition raising dispositive threshold questions would soon follow [2].
The substantive stakes extend beyond the dollar figure. Trump's lawyers are advancing two legal theories that, if accepted, could extinguish the case entirely. First, they argue that the Westfall Act requires substitution of the United States as the defendant in place of Trump, on the theory that his public statements about Carroll were made within the scope of his official duties [2]. If the government is substituted, sovereign immunity bars Carroll's defamation claim and the judgment dissolves. Second, Trump's team continues to press presidential immunity arguments, though that theory faces a more contested legal landscape following recent Supreme Court precedent on the scope of executive immunity in civil proceedings [1]. Either argument, if accepted by the Supreme Court, would render the trial record and the damages award moot.
The stay extends the litigation timeline into the next Supreme Court term. Trump's legal team must file its cert petition, and Carroll's counsel will have an opportunity to oppose [2]. The court's decision to condition the stay on an enlarged bond signals that the judges were not willing to grant a cost-free pause, reflecting the magnitude of the accruing interest on an eight-figure judgment. Whether the Supreme Court accepts the case will determine whether the Westfall Act and immunity questions receive definitive resolution or whether Carroll ultimately collects [1].
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