President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that he must pay $83.3 million to author and journalist E. Jean Carroll for defamation. The dispute arose after Carroll accused Trump of sexual assault, reports Euronews.

The U.S. Department of Justice also filed a separate motion with the Supreme Court. Trump's legal team argues that his contested statements were made in 2019 during his first term, and thus he should be shielded from personal liability under presidential immunity.

"Without the intervention of this court, a sitting president faces nearly $100 million in personal liability for actions that were squarely within his federal duties," Trump's lawyers said.

The attorneys called the case unprecedented, as a president has been ordered to pay damages for statements made while in office.

The DOJ, meanwhile, is asking to replace Trump as the defendant with the U.S. government. If the court agrees, the defamation suit could be dismissed, as the government enjoys immunity from such claims.

Carroll first publicly disclosed the alleged assault in 2019. She said Trump sexually attacked her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in New York in the mid-1990s.

Trump denied the allegations, said he didn't know Carroll, and suggested she made up the story to promote her book. Carroll then filed a defamation lawsuit.

In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and subsequent defamation, but did not find that he committed rape under the narrow legal definition used in the jury instructions. Carroll was awarded $5 million in damages. With interest, she received about $5.63 million in July 2026.

A separate case dealt with Trump's statements made in 2019 after Carroll's allegations were published.

In January 2024, a Manhattan jury found those statements defamatory and ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million. Thus, the sum was awarded not directly for the sexual assault but for the subsequent defamation of Carroll.

An appeals court previously upheld the verdict but allowed Trump to delay payment until the Supreme Court rules on his appeal or declines to hear it.

In June, the Supreme Court refused to hear Trump's appeal of the separate $5 million verdict. Now, Trump is challenging the second $83.3 million verdict.

Carroll's attorneys have not yet commented on the new motion.