The Week Trump Finally Surrendered to E. Jean Carroll
Four losses this week, and the throughline is a man out of road: he waved the white flag on E. Jean Carroll after the Supreme Court told him no twice, got told — again — that his $10 billion IRS lawsuit was a sham, lost a bid to hold counterterrorism funding hostage over ballot design, and watched his own economic approval sink to a number even he can't spin. Pour something cold — the ice caps aren't the only thing melting this week.
1. Trump Surrendered in the E. Jean Carroll Case. In Writing. For Good.
On September 29, the Second Circuit formally dismissed, with prejudice, Trump's last appeal in the $5 million E. Jean Carroll sexual-abuse case, after his own lawyers stipulated to drop it and withdrew their request to pause the payout. The court's mandate quotes the stipulation directly: the appeal is dead, and so is the stay motion. The money — $5.8 million with interest — isn't going anywhere; it's been sitting in Carroll's account since July, after the Supreme Court told him no in June and told him no again in August. He still owes her a separate $83 million he hasn't touched.
"Dismissed with prejudice" means the case can never come back — which makes it the only thing involving this man that's ever stayed dead on the first try.
2. Trump Sued the IRS for $10 Billion. An Appeals Court Just Called It a Sham — Again.
A three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit refused on September 29 to pause sanctions against Trump's own lawyers over his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, leaving in place a district judge's finding that the suit and its secret settlement were "collusive" and filed in bad faith. CNBC reports the panel — which includes a judge Trump himself appointed — said his team never even tried to explain away the collusion, just insisted the lower court got it wrong. The sanctions bar anyone from calling the deal a real "settlement" in future proceedings, since legally, as of now, it isn't one.
He sued the government to engineer his own tax amnesty and walked away with a permanent court order banning him from calling the fix a fix. That's not litigation. That's a confession with legal fees.
3. Trump Tried to Hold Counterterrorism Funds Hostage for Ballot Rules. A Judge Said Absolutely Not.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled Monday, September 28 that FEMA had no authority to withhold 20% of counterterrorism grants from counties that refused to adopt the administration's preferred voting rules — things like ditching barcode ballots and running voters through a citizenship database. The Hill reports the judge wrote that Congress gave FEMA money to fund anti-terrorism projects, "not authority to use the possibility of grants to induce" states and cities to do Washington's bidding instead. El Paso, Dallas, Travis, and Harris counties, plus Columbus and Nashville, keep both their money and their own ballots.
Turns out you can't call ballot design a terrorism threat and expect a federal judge not to notice it's a ransom note.
4. New Poll: Trump's Approval on the Economy Just Hit a New Record Low
A Quinnipiac University national poll released September 29 found just 31% of voters approve of Trump's handling of the economy — an all-time low for either of his terms — while his overall approval sits at 34%, with 61% disapproving, tying his worst-ever mark in Quinnipiac's polling. The survey, fielded September 24–27 among 1,032 registered voters, also found his approval on Iran tied at an all-time-low 28%.
Four years of promising the greatest economy ever, and the only number actually setting records is how few people believe it.
Now go back to doomscrolling. You've earned five minutes of not-doom.