Sky News interrupted for bombshell Donald Trump update
Sky News' teatime show ground to a halt minutes in as they announced a major update in Donald Trump's legal battle with the US Supreme Court. On Monday (June 29), broadcaster Jayne Secker returned to the airwaves to deliver the latest news hitting the headlines. It didn't take long for things to turn political when she interrupted the programme with a breaking news announcement from across the pond.
The broadcaster announced that the president's appeal to overturn a $5million (£3.7million) verdict finding him liable for sexually abusing and defaming a magazine columnist has been rejected by the US Supreme Court. The court refused to hear the Republican leader's appeal against a 2023 jury verdict which ruled in favour of E. Jean Carroll.
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BREAKING: Donald Trump's appeal to overturn a $5m verdict finding him liable for sexually abusing and defaming magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll has been declined by the US Supreme Court.
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At the time, Trump had argued that the outcome of the case was the result of an unfair trial. Secker told viewers: "The US Supreme Court has declined to hear President Trump's bid to overturn a court verdict. This was a verdict which was in favour of a lady called E. Jean Carroll, and in the case the jury found him liable for sexually abusing the former magazine columnist and then defaming her.
"He has been trying to get that overturned, but the US Supreme Court has declined to overturn that verdict from 2023." Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, alleged that Trump raped her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store back in 1996. The politician vehemently denies these claims.
The journalist made her accusation public when an excerpt of her memoir was published back in 2019. The cast that spurred the $5million verdict concerned social media posts shared by the Republican leader back in 2022, where he claimed Caroll's accusation was a "hoax" and a "con job". He penned: "This woman is not my type!"
Carroll then sued Trump in a Manhattan federal court, where jurors decided in 2023 that the president had sexually abused the writer and defamed her, awarding her the eye-watering sum in damages. They did not find that Trump had raped Carroll. A Manhattan Court of Appeals upheld the verdict in 2024.
Trump's legal team released a statement reacting to the news, which read: "The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes. President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again."
Trump's lawyers had argued Carroll's allegations were propped up by "highly inflammatory" evidence. Those included ones that allowed the testimony of two other women who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago. He has also denied their allegations.
The jury also awarded Carroll an additional $83.3million (£65.5million) after another defamation trial in 2024. It is understood that the president is also appealing that ruling, but it is not yet before the Supreme Court. The president's Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation targeting Carroll, focusing on whether the columnist committed perjury in testimony tied to the two civil lawsuits she won against Trump.