In a decisive legal setback for Donald Trump, the full bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the president’s appeal challenging the civil verdict in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll. The ruling upholds a jury’s finding that Trump was liable for defaming Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault.
The Second Circuit, based in New York, reviewed the appeal en banc—meaning all active judges on the court participated in the decision. Their ruling effectively reaffirms the trial court’s conclusions and the jury’s award of damages to Carroll.
Carroll, a longtime journalist, accused Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. Trump denied the allegation, publicly attacking Carroll’s credibility and motives. Two separate juries found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, leading to substantial monetary penalties.
In a new statement, Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan states: “E. Jean Carroll is very pleased with today’s decision. Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed. He remains liable for sexual assault and defamation.”
With this ruling, Trump’s last legal recourse lies with the U.S. Supreme Court. It is unclear whether the justices will agree to hear the case, as they receive thousands of petitions each term and accept only a small fraction.
If the Supreme Court declines to take the case—or upholds the lower court’s rulings—Trump will have no further legal avenues to overturn the verdict. This would solidify one of the most significant legal defeats faced by a U.S. president in modern history.
By the facts of Jeane Caroll rape case against Donald Trump, it is obvious that the current president of USA was found guilty of rape. How a rapist can be the president of any country may be up to those countries’ own moral standards and expectations. But for that kind of a person to be the self-declared leader of the free world giving orders on international human rights concerns is a bit of a stretch for the six billion of us who live in the world we have now.
Humanity must have some basic standards and world leaders are expected to be part of those in real personal and political life.
I know in Africa we have some terrible criminals running our countries as presidents. But if you put an active rapist as our head of state, it would be hard to accept. But that is us in our countries, Trump is for the Americans to deal with. Good Luck.
The other big agenda for President Trump seems to be finding countries where he can throw out people living in the US just because Trump doesn’t like them.
What Are Third-Country Deportations, and Why Is Trump Using Them?
The Trump administration is pursuing agreements with third countries to potentially accept U.S. deportees amid ongoing efforts to crack down on unauthorized immigration.
Migrants are housed in a hotel in Panama City, Panama, after being deported from the United States, February 18, 2025.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has significantly escalated the use of third-country deportations in an unprecedented expansion of a rarely used provision in U.S. immigration law. So far, nearly a dozen countries have agreed to accept U.S. deportees, often in exchange for financial compensation or under diplomatic pressure. However, critics warn that such deportations violate international human rights standards and place vulnerable migrants at risk.
Under the Trump administration, nearly a dozen countries—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Eswatini, Mexico, Panama, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda—have reportedly agreed to receive deportees with no existing ties to their nations. While some deportees have been confirmed to be detained in foreign prison facilities, the U.S. government lacks information on the location and condition of many others.
Yet Trump’s use of third-country deportations marks a significant departure from that of previous administrations. “This is not a strategy that the United States government has used to any significant extent,” Yale University’s Cristina Rodríguez told the New Yorker, “especially to the extent where they’re removing people to war zones like South Sudan or Sudan, or to prisons, as they did with El Salvador.” third-country deportations, including to South Sudan, while litigation on the matter continues.
Jacqueline Metzler is an editorial intern at CFR. Austin Steinhart created the map for this article.
Pullback ‘overdue,’ but also highlights risks tied to immigration, trade policies
As of right now Donald Trump is ready to launch a full war against Venezuela not for any specific efforts that would go through the UN, but for his own egotistic personal entertainment. Trump wants to sit in his lodge at Mara Lago partying with dancers and all his entertainers as he watches a brutal American invasion of Venezuela. That is what President Trump wants. Will America give that to him. Don’t ask me.
Donald Trump moves world’s largest aircraft carrier towards Venezuela as Maduro prepares to fight guerrilla war
This deployment is the largest US military presence in Latin America since the late 1980s
Trump has sent the world’s biggest aircraft carrier steaming into Latin American waters, and Nicolás Maduro is digging in for a fight.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, carrying more than 4,000 sailors and dozens of strike aircraft, has now entered the US Southern Command zone.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, with over 4,000 sailors, entered the US Southern Command zone
This deployment is the largest US military presence in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama
It is the largest US military deployment in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama.
The move also marks president Trump’s sharpest warning yet to Venezuela’s regime, which is mobilising troops, militias, and missiles for what it calls “prolonged resistance.”
When we wake up after the horror of bombings the US President Donald Trump intends to unleash on Venezuela which could wipe out whole populations there will be one huge international criminal and a frightening thug responsible for that catastrophe and wanting to do more harm to human safety in Venezuela and elsewhere.
That will be Donald Trump, the president of the United States of America. What can the world do to stop that? If nothing, then we are staring at a global nightmare never seen before. We will be there, and we will overcome it. That is what humanity has done for centuries. Nothing will change about that. Not even Trump.
Adongo Ogony is a Human Rights Activist and a Writer who lives in Toronto, Canada
