Trump ordered to pay writer Carroll 83.3 mln USD in defamation case

NEW YORK: Former U.S. President Donald Trump should pay 83.3 million U.S. dollars to writer E. Jean Carroll for defamatory statements he made against her in 2019, a Manhattan federal jury determined Friday.

The nine New Yorkers - two women and seven men - ordered Trump to pay Carroll 11 million dollars for a reputational repair program, 7.3 million dollars in other compensatory damages and 65 million dollars in punitive damages. The total is more than eight times what Carroll asked for in her initial lawsuit.

Trump left the courthouse minutes before the verdict and was not inside the room when the jury returned.

On a Truth Social post, Trump blasted the verdict as "absolutely ridiculous" and said he would appeal the decision.

Friday's verdict marked the second time Carroll won damages from Trump at trial.

Last May, a separate Manhattan federal jury awarded Carroll 5 million dollars in damages, including nearly 3 million dollars for defamation, after they found that Trump sexually abused Carroll and then defamed her in 2022 for public statements he made disparaging her and denying the allegations.

Carroll, a former magazine columnist, alleged that Trump raped her in a department store in the mid-1990s and then defamed her when he denied her claim.