Political savant knows why the Supreme Court just dealt Trump a devastating blow

U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 29, 2026. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz

President Donald Trump suffered a major setback when the U.S. Supreme Court, on Monday, declined to hear his appeal of the $5 million civil judgement that a federal New York jury awarded former Elle Magazine editor E. Jean Carroll. David Rothkopf, on the Daily Beast's vodcast, laid out some reasons why the High Court's decision is so devastating to Trump.

Rothkopf told host Joanna Coles, "It's now gone to the Supreme Court, and so, it now stands. This is a matter of law: Donald Trump is a sex abuser. That's going to sting because Trump is ego, ego, ego."

Trump was facing four criminal indictments when he won the 2024 presidential election. Carroll's cases against him, however, were strictly civil — not criminal.

Rothkopf told Coles, "The president was arguing, 'I'm the president, I am important.' In fact,this was an amazing argument because it was kind of like, 'I'm a very important president doing a very important presidency' — like that makes it special — and therefore, I shouldn't be bothered with this old stuff.' Well, they said, 'Nope, we're not even going to hear it'…. You know, Donald Trump and rich people, they treat and view courts differently."

Rothkopf continued, "They feel they can hire as many lawyers as they want for as long as they want to come up with delaying tactics. Because every time they go and bring a new case or come up with a new tactic, they know that the other side's got to write a check. The other side's got to pay for it. And so, it becomes a way of punishing people, even if they know the case isn't gonna go their way."

Coles pointed out that so far, Carroll has "not gotten a single penny" from Trump. But Rothkopf emphasized that the High Court decided to let the $5 million judgement "stand."

In an angry post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, "Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to 'review' a Fake Case brought against me by a woman I never met (Decades old celebrity photo line, standing with her husband, does not count!). I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength. This Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for, and should never be allowed to happen to another President, or Candidate to be!"

But the Daily Beast's Erkki Forster points out that the High Court's decision "means there are no more direct appeals available in the judicial system and that Trump will now have to pay Carroll the $5 million that a jury initially ordered him to pay in 2023."

Trump also owes Carroll a larger amount, $83.3 million, from a separate civil judgement.

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