How E. Jean Carroll Plans To Spend The Millions Donald Trump Owes Her

Longtime Elle columnist and author E. Jean Carroll successfully sued former President Donald J. Trump related to her 2019 allegations of sexual assault dating back to the 1990s. The 2024 presidential hopeful was ordered to pay the author $83.3 million in damages in January 2024 after a jury agreed that he had defamed her when denying her allegations. "The single most important thing that convicted Donald Trump — both from his deposition and from the trial — is Donald Trump's own behavior," Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, told Politico.

In speaking to Anderson Cooper after the verdict on CNN, Carroll said that since all Trump understands is money, a large demanded sum like this one should make a difference to him. "Whether that will succeed, I don't know, I sure hope it will," she explained. The outlet also mentioned that should Trump decide to file an appeal, he would be required to post a bond of at least 20% of the judgment amount.

Although Carroll may not receive the substantial sum awarded by the jury until the former president has pursued all possible appeals — a process he has vowed to undertake — she has already shared her intentions for the millions that Trump now owes her.

It didn't take long for E. Jean Carroll to determine what she would do with the staggering $83.3 million Donald J. Trump now owes her. The New York Times pointed out that Carroll might be in for a long wait before she sees a dime, but that hasn't stopped her from plotting how she'll use that windfall when it finally lands. The author told the outlet her resolve to put the money to good use, emphasizing that her lawsuit victory represents a triumph for women.

While not getting into specifics, Carroll told "Good Morning America" she wants to use the money for "something Donald Trump hates." Adding to that, she suggested she could launch a "fund for the women who have been sexually assaulted by Donald Trump." Adding to that, she told NYT that she ultimately wants the money to build change somehow. "I'm not going to waste a cent of this," she told the outlet. "We're going to do something good with it."

Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, told the NYT that this kind of massive financial award may deter Trump from further instigations against the author. "He cares about money," Kaplan told the outlet. "And this is a lot of money to Donald Trump. And I don't think he wants another judgment at the same amount."

Former President Donald J. Trump has already said he will file an appeal against the defamation verdict placed against him in his lawsuit with E. Jean Carroll. But that doesn't negate the fact that the jury awarded Carroll over $83 million to be paid by Trump, 20% of which would need to be bonded — even in an appeal. This has gotten folks talking about whether Trump could actually afford the sum. ABC News reported that in 2023, Trump spent over $50 million from his PAC and super PAC funds on legal bills. 

While Trump has claimed to be worth billions of dollars, his actual net worth is highly debated. And while the $83 million might not tank Trump, it could force him to sell some assets. "The enterprise that is Trump isn't going to be taken down by a bunch of criminal cases," Steven M. Cohen, a former federal prosecutor and top official in the attorney general's office, told The New York Times. "The enterprise that is Trump is going to be picked apart by these civil cases, and at some point there is a risk of collapse."