Millions will all "go to everything he hates"

Story by AFP

American journalist and writer E. Jean Carroll, the only person to successfully sue Donald Trump for sexual assault, told AFP she is finally free to spend the damages awarded to her from the US president.

But she won't be splurging on herself. 

In late June, the US Supreme Court rejected what was thought to be a final appeal from Trump against Carroll's civil claim over a 1996 assault, meaning $5.6 million in damages which had been deposited by the president could be finally released to her.

But the fight did not end there for a woman whose seven-year legal battle against the Republican head of state has turned her into the standard bearer for dozens of others who have accused the US leader of sexual misconduct.

"So I have the money in my account, and Trump goes off his rocker and tries to bring a court injunction to get the money back!" Carroll told AFP of the pay-out.

"Why? Because he wants the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision."

Now, this week, "the Trump lawyers and the Carroll lawyers have now signed an agreement that the injunction is moot", the 82-year-old said in Paris, where she is promoting a French-language version of her book.

Although she can now spend the money, she says she has little need for it.  

"I don't buy stuff. I know how to be happy," she said, before joking about the possibility of AI-created Armageddon: "I mean, you don't really need a bunch of money now, not with the world ending."

A second, much larger pay-out from Trump is also working its way through the US court system, with Carroll promising that the money "is going to go to everything he hates" -- women's rights, minority rights, the environment. 

Damages of $83.3 million were awarded from a defamation case that Carroll launched against Trump after he denied sexually assaulting her in the changing room of a Manhattan department store and called her a liar. 

Carroll recounted her ordeal and her excruciating legal fight in her book last year -- "Not My Type" -- which showcases her talent for observation and acid humour that made her a well-known columnist in New York in the 80s and 90s.

The title was a reference to Trump's infamous statement about her when she first aired her allegations.

The fight, she says, has been "hard, every single minute".

Meanwhile back at the ranch as Melania nurses her newborn infant...