Trump's Truth Social Posts About E. Jean Carroll Will Cost Him $3 Million

Donald Trump's "truths" on his social media platform Truth Social ended up costing him millions of dollars after a Manhattan jury on Tuesday found him liable for battery and defamation in the lawsuit filed against him by magazine writer E. Jean Carroll.

Trump is now liable for $2 million in damages for battery as well as roughly $3 million in damages for defamation after the jury found that the former president sexually abused Carroll in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan 27 years ago and injured her reputation in a series of posts on Truth Social in October last year.

Carroll's defamation award included $1 million in damages unrelated to a reputation repair program and $1.7 million to rehabilitate her public image, The New York Times reported.

The jury also ordered Trump to pay Carroll an additional $280,000 because he "acted maliciously, out of hatred, ill will, spite, or wanton, reckless, or willful disregard of the rights of another."

In his 2022 Truth Social posts, Trump called the case "a made up (sic) scam" and her lawyer "a political operative, financed by a big political donor."

He also wrote at the time: "Does anybody believe that I would take a then almost 60 year old (sic) woman that I didn't know, from the front door of a very crowded department store, (with me being very well known, to put it mildly!), into a tiny dressing room, and ... her."

The jury found that Trump knew that his statements were false, and thus defamatory under the New York state's standard of "actual malice."

Medill School of Journalism professor Ashlee Humphreys testified before the court and said that it would cost Carroll $2.7 million to repair the reputational damage Trump caused, according to the Times.

Trump's legal team continued to insist on the innocence of their client and suggested that the case was a ploy initiated by the Democratic Party. His spokesperson said there were "false and totally made-up claims from troubled individuals to interfere with our elections, doing great damage."

Meanwhile, minutes after the verdict came out, Trump "truthed" out his innocence, seemingly unaware of the consequences of posting on social media about cases he was, and currently is, involved in.

"I have absolutely no idea who this woman is. This verdict is a disgrace - a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time," he wrote.

Although Trump never physically testified, he provided the court with some comments in a video deposition and said that Carroll was "not my type."

The jury submitted their verdict shortly before 3 p.m. local time Tuesday. Trump's attorneys said they will appeal the ruling.