The jury consisted of six men and three women. They reached a verdict after three hours of delineation on the trial, which had lasted eight days. The court awarded Carroll a total of $5 million in damages.

Carroll accuses Trump of sexually assaulting her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City during the 1990s. When she went public with her account of the incident in 2019, Trump denied the allegation and remarked, “She’s not my type.” In proving that Carroll is, in fact, Trump’s “type,” attorneys showed footage of Trump’s deposition. During the video, he incorrectly identified Carroll as his ex-wife Marla Maples.

Attorneys for Trump did not call any witnesses nor did he testify in the trial. Instead, they argued that Carroll and the 10 other witnesses her team called were part of a conspiracy to tarnish Trump’s reputation out of hatred for him. Trump addressed the case on Truth Social. “Waiting for a jury decision on a False Accusation where I, despite being a current political candidate and leading all others in both parties, am not allowed to speak or defend myself, even as hard nosed reporters scream questions about this case at me,” he wrote. “In the meantime, the other side has a book falsely accusing me of Rape, & is working with the press. I will therefore not speak until after the trial, but will appeal the Unconstitutional silencing of me, as a candidate, no matter the outcome!”