Writing the President's Wrongs

E. Jean Carroll turns her infamous courtroom battles into a book and tells of her mission to spend Donald Trump's millions her way

- by MANDY TAHERI

ON THE EVE OF HER BOOK release, E. Jean Carroll stepped into Newsweek’s Manhattan office in a muted olive-green jumpsuit, shimmery brown blazer and cream lace-up combat boots. With her signature blond bob in place, she restated her mission: to make President Donald Trump “so mad” by spending the $83.3 million he owes her in lawsuit settlements on causes he hates.

At 81, Carroll—twice victorious against Trump in separate civil court cases—has penned a book, Not My Type, turning the infamous words the president used to dismiss her sexual assault allegations on themselves. Subtitled One Woman vs. a President, it chronicles Carroll’s legal battles against Trump in which juries unanimously found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation but she failed to prove he raped her. He is ordered to pay Carroll a total, with accruing interest, around $88 million: $5 million from the first case and $83.3 million from the second.

In June, a U.S. appeals court rejected Trump’s bid to overturn the $5 million verdict. He is appealing the separate $83.3 million judgment, arguing that presidential immunity should protect him.

Blending courtroom transcripts with her raw, often humorous stream of consciousness, Carroll brings an intimate and comedic lens to the trials about her 1996 sexual abuse by Trump in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman department store. “The whole thing to me was like a high comedy,” she told Newsweek, describing the trials.

Carroll writes with the same playful cadence and eccentric flair that defines her voice, which is undeniably that of a decadeslong Elle columnist. She told Newsweek that the book came together largely thanks to voice notes she recorded at the end of each trial day.