Writer E. Jean Carroll has advanced how she plans to use the $83.3 million in damages for defamation that a New York jury ordered former President Donald Trump to pay, following the end of a highly publicized trial last Friday.
“If it causes you pain that I donate money for certain things, that will be my intention,” Carroll told television host George Stephanopoulos on
Good Morning America
, suggesting that she will create a “fund for women who have been sexually assaulted by Donald Trump.”
[The jury finds Trump responsible for sexual abuse and defamation of the writer E. Jean Carroll]
The former president has vowed to appeal the verdict, meaning it could be some time before Carroll receives any sum of money.
However, Carroll told The New York Times that she would be careful when she finally gets it.
“I'm not going to waste a cent,” the columnist told the Times.
“Let's do something good with it.”
Carroll also told the newspaper that, although he was still considering how to use the money the jury awarded him, his plans include giving his two dogs luxury food.
“Now I'm going to be able to buy top-quality dog food,” she told the Times.
In May 2023, a court found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, in the 1990s. In that case, Trump was ordered to pay $5 million in damages to the writer.
The trial that concluded this week aimed to determine the amount Trump should pay Carroll after defaming her when she denied the sexual assault and said she did not know the woman.
After the trial came to an end this Friday, Carroll said the women were the true winners.
“This victory, more than anything else, comes when we needed it most — after having lost the rights to our own bodies in many states — this time we were proven right.
“The women have won this time,” he told the Times.
“I think it bodes well for the future,” he added.
[Trump defies the judge again by testifying in the trial for defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll]
Throughout the trial, Trump attacked Carroll in a series of posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, some made while he was sitting in the courtroom.
Trump also lashed out at the verdict on Friday, writing in Truth Social: “Our Legal System is out of control, and is being used as a Political Weapon.”
The former president stressed that he “totally” disagreed with the verdict, but did not directly refer to Carroll.
The writer told the Times that she didn't know if that meant Trump had finally stopped attacking her.
Carroll revealed to the Times that she was “terrified” ahead of the trial, as she would have to face the individual she had accused of assaulting her.
But she also said that, when she was already in the room, she felt full of energy.
“When you face the man, he's nothing more than a naked man,” Carroll said.
“The people around him are the ones who give him power.”
["I'm here because Trump raped me," writer E. Jean Carroll tells a court]
Roberta Kaplan, the writer's lawyer, has said that she is confident that they will be able to collect the $83.3 million and explained that Trump could pay a portion or deposit the entire money until he appeals.
“I'm pretty sure that will happen one way or another.
We may not get it right away.
But it will happen one way or another.
He owns a lot of real estate.
They can be sold.
And we will collect the judgment,” Kaplan said.
Although Trump has not mentioned Carroll by name in the days since the verdict, the writer said she does not trust the former president to refrain from further smearing her.
His lawyer asserted that “all options are on the table” if Trump decides to take this path again.
“If we have to file another case, we will file another case.
It will just mean more money (to pay),” Kaplan said.
With information from
ABC News
,
The New York Times
and
Business Insider