As of October 2024, since the 1970s, at least 28 women have publicly accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. These accusations include rape, sexual assault, sex with minors, physical abuse, kissing and groping without consent, looking under women's skirts, and walking in on naked pageant contestants.
In 2023, a jury in a New York civil trial found Trump liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of writer E. Jean Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages. The jury did not find him liable for rape but the presiding judge later said that the jury’s finding of sexual abuse met the common definition of rape. In a subsequent 2024 civil trial, Trump was again found liable for defamation of Carroll and ordered to pay her an additional $83.3 million.
Beyond the Carroll case, several other women have filed lawsuits against Trump, including his former wife Ivana Trump, who alleged a 'violent assault' during their 1990 divorce (which she later withdrew), and businesswoman Jill Harth, who sued in 1997 alleging sexual harassment and assault. Other notable litigants include former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos and campaign staffer Alva Johnson, both of whom filed suits that were later withdrawn or dismissed.
Following Trump's 2024 re-election, and the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act that led to the release of the Epstein Files in late-2025 and early 2026, it was revealed that the FBI had conducted secret investigations into Trump's ties to Epstein dating back to the 1990s. The files included several unverified tips to the FBI National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) regarding alleged misconduct and trafficking involving Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, including a 1990 oral rape allegation, which resulted in multiple FBI interviews with the accuser, and a 1995 report from a limousine driver alleging that Trump had discussed abusing a girl with Epstein.
In 2005, Trump told Howard Stern on his radio show that "he got away with going backstage when the contestants were naked" at beauty pageants. In October 2016, two days before the second presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, a 2005 "hot mic" recording surfaced in which Trump was heard saying "You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything ... grab them by the pussy." The incident's widespread media exposure led to Trump's first public apology during the campaign, and caused outrage across the political spectrum.
Overview
Donald Trump has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, including non-consensual kissing or groping, by at least 28 women since the 1970s.
In June 2019, writer E. Jean Carroll alleged in New York magazine that Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in 1995 or 1996. Two friends of Carroll stated that Carroll had previously confided in them about the incident. In November 2019, Carroll filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump. Trump called the allegation fiction and denied ever meeting Carroll, despite a photo showing them together at a party in 1987 which was published by the magazine.
In November 2022, Carroll sued Trump for battery under the Adult Survivors Act. On May 9, 2023, a New York jury in a civil case found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against Carroll, but found him not liable for rape. They awarded Carroll US $5 million in damages. In July 2023, Judge Kaplan stated that the jury had found that Trump had raped Carroll according to the common definition of the word, as they had ruled that Trump had forcibly and nonconsensually penetrated Carroll's vagina with his fingers. New York State law at the time defined rape as solely nonconsensual penetration of the vagina by a penis. A September 2023 partial summary judgment found Trump liable for again defaming Carroll. On January 26, 2024, Trump was ordered to pay Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages.
Other litigation includes his then-wife Ivana's rape claim during their 1990 divorce (she later recanted); businesswoman Jill Harth's 1997 lawsuit alleging breach of contract and sexual harassment (she settled the former claim and forfeited the latter); and former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos's claim of sexual misconduct, followed by a 2017 defamation lawsuit after Trump accused her of lying (she withdrew her defamation case in 2021).
The allegations by Ivana Trump and Jill Harth became public before Trump's presidential candidacy with the rest going public after the 2005 Access Hollywood tape was leaked during the 2016 presidential campaign in which Trump was recorded bragging that a celebrity like himself "can do anything" to women, including "just start kissing them... I don't even wait" and "grab 'em by the pussy". Trump denied behaving that way toward women and apologized for the crude language. Many of his accusers stated that Trump's denials provoked them into going public.
Several former Miss USA and Miss Teen USA contestants accused Trump of entering the dressing rooms of beauty pageant contestants while contestants were in various stages of undress. Trump had already referred to this practice during a 2005 interview on The Howard Stern Show, saying he could "get away with things like that" because he owned the Miss Universe franchise. In October 2019, the book All the President's Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator contained 43 additional allegations of sexual misconduct against Trump.
In 2025, Trump's past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein received significant media attention following his administration's refusal to release files relating to Epstein, despite Trump's 2024 election campaign promises to do so. In response to the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the files were eventually released, except that they "failed to include some key materials related to a woman who made an accusation against President Trump, according to a review by The New York Times".Baker, Mike; Gold, Michael. "Epstein Files Are Missing Records About Woman Who Made Claim Against Trump". The New York Times, February 25, 2026. The files that were released revealed other accounts of Trump's alleged sexual misconduct that were investigated by the FBI.
In 2026, the DOJ released FBI files detailing several severe, though largely unverified, tips made to the National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) regarding alleged sexual misconduct and trafficking by Donald Trump, often involving Jeffrey Epstein. One specific 1990 allegation of assault resulted in multiple FBI interviews with the accuser. Although some interview summaries and details have been released to the public, records show that certain pages and files regarding these investigations remain redacted or unreleased. Other files also revealed that the FBI had in fact secretly investigated Epstein-related allegations against Trump.
Trump has a history of insulting and belittling women when speaking to the media and on social media, and has made lewd and suggestive comments about women (including his daughter Ivanka), disparaged their physical appearance, and referred to them using derogatory epithets.
Trump has denied all the allegations against him, saying he has been the victim of media bias, conspiracies, and a political smear campaign. In October 2016, Trump publicly vowed to sue all the women who have made allegations of sexual misconduct against him, as well as The New York Times for publishing the allegations. , he has only sued one accuser, an unsuccessful counterclaim against Carroll.
Accusations filed in court against Trump
Ivana Trump (1989) Ivana Trump and Donald Trump married in 1977. Ivana stated in a deposition taken in 1990, during their divorce proceedings, that Donald had visited her plastic surgeon following which he had expressed anger and ripped out hair from her scalp. Donald said the allegation was "obviously false". The book Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald Trump (1993), by Harry Hurt III, described the alleged attack as a "violent assault" during which Donald attacked Ivana sexually. According to the book, Ivana later confided to some of her friends that Donald had raped her. In a statement given just before the publication of Hurt's book, and included in the book, Ivana said:
The Trumps' divorce was granted in December 1990 on grounds that Donald's treatment of Ivana, including his affair with Marla Maples, was "cruel and inhuman". According to Donald Trump's lawyer, Jay Goldberg, this was based on Trump's having been seen in public with Marla Maples in 1990. Their settlement had a confidentiality clause preventing Ivana from discussing the marriage or the divorce. In 1992, Trump sued Ivana for not honoring a gag clause in their divorce agreement by disclosing facts about him in her best-selling book, and Trump won a gag order.
Years later (after Trump began his presidential campaign), Ivana said she and Donald "are the best of friends". In a July 2015 campaign endorsement, Ivana said: "I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit."
Jill Harth (1992) Jill Harth alleged that Trump assaulted her several times. Harth stated that in December 1992, while dining with Trump and her then-boyfriend George Houraney, Trump attempted to put his hands between her legs. Harth and Houraney visited Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in January 1993 for a contract-signing celebration. Trump, according to Harth, offered her a tour before pulling her into the empty bedroom of his daughter Ivanka. "I was admiring the decoration, and next thing I know he's pushing me against a wall and has his hands all over me. He was trying to kiss me. I was freaking out." Harth says she desperately protested against Trump's advances and eventually managed to run out of the room. She and her boyfriend left rather than stay the night, as they had intended. After she became engaged, Harth alleges, Trump began to stalk her.
Harth filed a lawsuit in 1997 in which she accused Trump of non-consensual groping of her body, among them her "intimate private parts", and "relentless" sexual harassment. The suit was withdrawn after Houraney settled with Trump for an undisclosed amount in a lawsuit that stated Trump had backed out of a business deal. She still claims to have been sexually assaulted, and said that his actions were "unwanted and aggressive, very sexually aggressive".
Following the incident, Harth said she received "a couple years of therapy". In 2015, she contacted Trump's campaign to get a job as a makeup artist and sell her men's cosmetic product line. She later said, "Yes, I had moved on but had not forgotten the pain [Trump] brought into my life. I was older, wiser. Trump was married to Melania and I had hoped he was a changed man." She worked at one of Trump's rallies as a makeup artist. Of the experience, she said: "I'm a makeup artist. The guy is a mess, OK? He really needed my services, and I'm a makeup artist that needs a job. Why would, if I was on friendly terms, why wouldn't I try to get that job?"
Harth's lawsuit was first published in February 2016 by LawNewz.com. Her case was first published in May 2016 in The New York Times article "Crossing the Line". Trump characterized her story in the Times as "false, malicious and libelous" and said he "strongly denies the claims". Harth stood by her charges in a July 2016 interview with The Guardian. In October 2016, she said that, if sued by Trump, she intends to counter-sue.
Katie Johnson/Jane Doe (1994)