Donald Trump’s biggest appellate victory came in August 2025, when a New York appeals court threw out the roughly $464 million disgorgement penalty from the state’s civil fraud case against him. His other major appeals have gone the other way or remain unresolved: the underlying fraud liability finding, the two E. Jean Carroll defamation judgments totaling more than $88 million, and the 34-count Manhattan felony conviction are all still on the books as of mid-2026, though each is on appeal. Here is where Trump’s appeal wins, losses, and pending challenges stand across the civil fraud, Carroll, and criminal cases.
New York Civil Fraud: The Big Financial Win
On August 21, 2025, a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division’s First Judicial Department unanimously vacated the entire $464 million disgorgement award that Justice Arthur Engoron had imposed in February 2024. The panel ruled that forcing Trump to pay nearly half a billion dollars to the state was “an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”1Justia. People v. Trump, 2025 NY Slip Op 04756 Sanctions against Trump’s legal counsel were also overturned.2Jurist. New York Appeals Court Tosses $465 Million Award in Trump Civil Fraud Case
The fraud finding itself survived, but barely. The judges split three ways on the merits, and no single opinion commanded a majority. Two justices wanted to overturn the fraud findings and order a new trial. One went further and would have thrown out the case entirely, questioning whether Attorney General Letitia James had authority to bring it. Liability was affirmed only because two of the dissenters joined the final order “for the sole purpose of ensuring finality” so the case could move up to New York’s highest court.2Jurist. New York Appeals Court Tosses $465 Million Award in Trump Civil Fraud Case
Several non-monetary penalties from Engoron’s original judgment stayed in place. Trump faces a three-year ban on serving as a company director and a three-year restriction on his businesses taking loans from New York financial institutions.3Courthouse News Service. Trump Asks New York’s Top Court to Toss Civil Fraud Judgment Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump each face a two-year officer-and-director ban.4New York Attorney General. Attorney General James Wins Landmark Victory in Case Against Donald Trump The court-appointed monitor overseeing the Trump Organization also remains.2Jurist. New York Appeals Court Tosses $465 Million Award in Trump Civil Fraud Case
Both sides have taken the case to the New York Court of Appeals. James said the day of the ruling that she would seek to reinstate the financial penalty.5New York Attorney General. Attorney General James Releases Statement on First Department Opinion Trump’s team filed a 119-page brief in April 2026 asking the court to reverse the fraud finding entirely and lift the remaining business restrictions.3Courthouse News Service. Trump Asks New York’s Top Court to Toss Civil Fraud Judgment The Attorney General’s briefing deadline was June 23, 2026, and no decision has been issued.6Politico. Donald Trump Civil Fraud Appeal
E. Jean Carroll: Two Losses on Appeal, Payment Paused
Trump has lost every appellate round in the two Carroll cases so far. The first case, from a 2023 jury verdict, produced a $5 million judgment for sexual abuse and defamation. The second, decided in January 2024, produced a unanimous $83.3 million defamation verdict, split between $65 million in punitive damages and $18.3 million in compensatory damages.7Courthouse News Service. Jury Awards E. Jean Carroll $83.3 Million in Damages for Donald Trump’s Defamation
Trump’s central appellate argument has been presidential immunity: that his statements denying Carroll’s allegations were shielded because he made them while in office. The Second Circuit first rejected that argument in December 2023, holding that presidential immunity is a waivable defense and that Trump had waived it by failing to raise it when he first answered the lawsuit in late 2019.8CNBC. Trump Loses Presidential Immunity Challenge to E. Jean Carroll Case
In September 2025, a Second Circuit panel upheld the $83.3 million judgment, calling the jury’s awards “fair and reasonable.”9ABC News. Appeals Court Upholds $83 Million Judgment Against Trump for Defaming Carroll Trump sought rehearing by the full court. In April 2026, the Second Circuit denied that request, with 12 judges in the majority and three dissenting. Judge Denny Chin wrote that “if any other litigant had failed to raise an affirmative defense in this way, there would be no question as to whether he waived his right to assert it.”10Courthouse News Service. No En Banc in Trump Appeals of E. Jean Carroll Verdict, $83 Million Judgment The dissent flagged a possible circuit split with the D.C. Circuit on the Westfall Act, which could bear on Supreme Court review.11Findlaw. Carroll v. Trump, Second Circuit En Banc Denial
Carroll has not been paid. On May 11, 2026, the Second Circuit paused the payment obligation while Trump seeks Supreme Court review, on the condition that he increase his existing bond by $7.46 million to cover accruing interest, bringing the total to nearly $100 million.12The Guardian. Appeals Court Delays Trump Payment in E. Jean Carroll Case The stay holds until the Supreme Court accepts or rejects the case.13PBS NewsHour. Appeals Court Says Trump Doesn’t Have to Pay $83 Million to E. Jean Carroll for Now
Trump filed a certiorari petition in the $5 million verdict case on November 10, 2025. As of June 2026, the petition has been distributed for conference and rescheduled 15 times without explanation.14SCOTUSblog. Court Puts Off Deciding Whether to Consider $5 Million Verdict Against Trump Yet Again In early June 2026, his attorneys told the Court they would file a separate petition challenging the $83.3 million verdict within a month and suggested the justices consider both together.15CNN. Supreme Court E. Jean Carroll Donald Trump Appeal
Manhattan Criminal Conviction: Still Standing
The 34-count felony conviction remains active. A Manhattan jury convicted Trump on May 30, 2024, of falsifying business records tied to hush money payments during the 2016 campaign. Justice Juan Merchan sentenced him on January 10, 2025, to an unconditional discharge, meaning no prison time, fine, or probation.16USA Today. Donald Trump Criminal Conviction Felony
Trump is challenging the conviction on two tracks. In state court, his attorneys filed an appeal brief with the Appellate Division’s First Department in October 2025, arguing the trial was “fatally marred” by evidence they say was protected by presidential immunity and by alleged bias from the trial judge.17Good Morning America. Trump Formally Appeals New York Hush Money Conviction In federal court, he is trying to have the case transferred out of state jurisdiction on the theory that some trial evidence involved immunized “official acts.”
In November 2025, the Second Circuit ordered U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to reconsider his earlier denial of that transfer. At a February 2026 hearing, Hellerstein told Trump’s lawyers they were taking “two bites at the apple” and said he was “unlikely” to grant the motion.18Politico. Donald Trump Hush Money Conviction19Courthouse News Service. New York Judge Excoriates Trump’s Timing in Bid to Scrap Hush Money Conviction As of mid-2026, Hellerstein had not ruled, and no oral argument date had been set in the state appeal.16USA Today. Donald Trump Criminal Conviction Felony
The Other Criminal Cases
Trump’s other criminal prosecutions did not produce appellate rulings because they never got that far. By November 2025, all four federal and state criminal cases brought against him had been dropped, resolved, or shelved following his reelection. The Georgia election interference case was dismissed on November 26, 2025, after the prosecutor who inherited it declined to pursue the charges.20WABE. Here’s Where All the Legal Cases Against Trump Stand Since His Return to the White House