Trump Lawsuits 2026, Every Major Case, What Happened, and Where Things Stand

Prepared by the AllAboutLawyer.com Editorial Team and reviewed for factual accuracy against Just Security’s Litigation Tracker, Lawfare’s Litigation Tracker, NBC News, CNN Politics, NPR, and court records on April 25, 2026. Last Updated: April 25, 2026

If you have been trying to keep track of the lawsuits surrounding Donald Trump, you are not alone. The numbers are staggering, the categories are different, and the outcomes swing in every direction. This guide breaks it all down in plain English — who is suing whom, what each case is actually about, and where things stand right now.

How Many Lawsuits Does Trump Face in 2026?

The honest answer is: it depends entirely on what you count.

As of April 9, 2026, Just Security’s litigation tracker counts 753 cases challenging Trump administration actions. Lawfare’s tracker counts 316 “active cases,” treating a district court case and its appeals as a single matter. The New York Times tracker reports over 700 total cases filed against the administration since January 2025.

Those numbers measure only lawsuits against the Trump administration. They do not count Trump’s personal civil litigation. Add the E. Jean Carroll cases, the New York fraud appeal, and the roughly 30 lawsuits Trump has filed as plaintiff, and the total easily exceeds 800 active legal matters involving Trump or his administration.

The key thing to understand is that these fall into three completely different buckets — and the difference matters.

First, there are lawsuits against Trump’s administration, challenging executive orders and federal policies — not personal suits, but challenges to official actions as head of the executive branch. Second, there are personal civil lawsuits against Trump the individual, based on conduct before or during his presidency. Third, Trump himself is a plaintiff in multiple lawsuits he has filed against federal agencies, state governments, and media organizations.

Category 1 — Lawsuits Against the Trump Administration (Policy Challenges)

These are the 700+ cases you keep seeing in the news. They are not about Trump the person — they are about his executive orders and policy decisions.

As of the latest count, there are 316 active cases challenging Trump administration actions, 22 suits by the Trump administration challenging state or local laws, 17 Supreme Court stays or orders to vacate lower court orders, and 10 suits where judges ruled against the federal government in a summary judgment or permanent injunction.

The Democratic Attorneys General Association reported in April 2026 that it had filed its 100th lawsuit against the Trump administration. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield alone has filed over 50 cases.

The biggest policy areas being litigated include birthright citizenship, voting rules, federal funding freezes, and immigration enforcement. These cases move fast, often involve emergency injunctions, and most people affected by them never file anything — courts decide their fate automatically.

Category 2 — Personal Civil Lawsuits Against Trump

These are the cases most people actually want to understand. They involve Trump personally — not his administration — and carry real financial consequences.

E. Jean Carroll — Sexual Abuse and Defamation ($88.3 Million in Judgments)

This is the most financially significant personal case against Trump, and it is essentially two separate lawsuits that ran in parallel.

Carroll I — $83.3 Million Defamation Verdict

A New York jury returned a verdict in January 2024 awarding Carroll $83.3 million in damages for Trump repeatedly defaming her during his first term in office and in the years that followed — including during the defamation trial itself.

In September 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the $83.3 million defamation verdict, backing the jury’s finding that Trump defamed Carroll when he dismissed her 2019 sexual assault allegations as false. The three-judge panel called Trump’s conduct “remarkably high, perhaps unprecedented” in degree of reprehensibility.

Trump has not yet filed a petition to the Supreme Court on the $83.3 million case. With New York’s 9% annual interest rate running on the judgment, the amount owed continues to grow.

Related article: East Village Residents vs. NYC, The Homeless Shelter Lawsuit Against Mayor Mamdani’s Administration Explained

Carroll II — $5 Million Sexual Abuse and Defamation Verdict

In May 2023, a federal jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her in 2022 statements, awarding her $5 million in total damages — $2 million for sexual battery, $2.7 million for defamation, and $280,000 in punitive damages.

Trump lost his appeal of this $5 million verdict in September 2025. He has now asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn it, arguing the trial judge wrongly admitted the Access Hollywood tape and testimony from other accusers. As of April 2026, the Supreme Court has not announced whether it will take the case.

New York Civil Fraud Case — The $355 Million Penalty That Got Thrown Out

New York Attorney General Letitia James brought a civil lawsuit alleging that Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in financial fraud by presenting vastly disparate property values to lenders and tax officials in violation of New York Executive Law § 63(12). After a trial that ran from October 2023 to January 2024, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered the defendants to pay a total of $364 million — but an appeals court in August 2025 voided that penalty.

The appeals court found that Engoron’s disgorgement order — which had grown past $515 million with interest — was an excessive fine that violated the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

However, the fraud finding itself was not cleanly resolved. The fraud finding remains in effect and is now before New York’s highest court. Trump also filed a motion in April 2026 to vacate the fraud finding based on new statements by witness Michael Cohen. This case is not over — it just no longer carries a half-billion-dollar price tag for now.

Category 3 — Lawsuits Filed BY Trump

Trump is not just a defendant. He is also an aggressive plaintiff who has filed dozens of lawsuits himself.

The $10 Billion IRS Lawsuit

Trump, along with his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, filed suit in January 2026 against the IRS and Treasury Department, alleging the agencies failed to protect his confidential tax information — which was leaked by government contractor Charles Littlejohn and led to reporting that Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017.

This case just hit a major obstacle. Florida District Judge Kathleen M. Williams questioned whether Trump can sue federal agencies that he oversees as president, saying it is unclear whether the parties are “sufficiently adverse to each other” — because Trump directs the IRS and Treasury as the sitting president even while suing them in his personal capacity.

The judge ordered both parties to explain “whether a case and controversy exists” by May 20, and set a hearing for May 27 in Miami. Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers are in active settlement discussions with the IRS, which would mean Trump’s own administration paying him and his family from taxpayer funds.

The Wall Street Journal Defamation Lawsuit — Dismissed

On July 18, 2025, Trump sued the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, Rupert Murdoch, and two journalists for defamation over an article claiming Trump wrote a lewd note included in a birthday album for Jeffrey Epstein. In April 2026, the judge dismissed the lawsuit.

The ABC News Settlement

In December 2024, the Walt Disney Company settled a defamation lawsuit Trump brought against ABC News, agreeing to donate $15 million to Trump’s future presidential library foundation and paying $1 million in Trump’s legal fees.

The Collapsed Criminal Cases

Two federal criminal cases against Trump were dropped — not because Trump was found innocent, but because he won the presidency and a sitting president cannot be federally prosecuted.

Special Counsel Jack Smith dropped both the federal election interference case and the classified documents case in November 2024 after Trump’s election victory. Smith released a report concluding there was sufficient admissible evidence “to obtain and sustain a conviction.” Trump Administration officials have since opened an investigation into Smith.

The New York hush money criminal case resulted in a guilty verdict on 34 counts before Trump won the election. Sentencing has been repeatedly delayed and the case remains in legal limbo due to his status as a sitting president.

How to Keep Track Going Forward

The Trump legal landscape changes week to week. Here is how to stay current:

• Just Security’s tracker (justsecurity.org) covers all policy and executive order challenges — 753 cases and counting.
• Lawfare’s tracker (lawfaremedia.org) tracks 316 active cases with detailed summaries.
• PACER (pacer.gov) gives you access to actual court filings for any federal case.
• AllAboutLawyer.com will update its coverage as major rulings land — including the May 27 IRS lawsuit hearing, the Supreme Court’s decision on the Carroll $5 million petition, and the New York Court of Appeals ruling on the fraud finding.

Quick Reference: Major Trump Lawsuits at a Glance

Case	Type	Current Status
E. Jean Carroll — Carroll I	Personal defamation	$83.3M judgment upheld on appeal (Sept. 2025); Supreme Court petition possible
E. Jean Carroll — Carroll II	Personal sexual abuse + defamation	$5M judgment upheld; Supreme Court petition filed; no decision yet
New York Civil Fraud (AG James)	Personal fraud	Fraud finding upheld; $500M+ penalty voided; now at NY Court of Appeals
Trump v. IRS / Treasury	Trump is plaintiff; $10B sought	Judge questioning jurisdiction; hearing May 27, 2026
Trump v. Wall Street Journal	Trump is plaintiff; defamation	Dismissed April 2026
Trump v. ABC News	Trump is plaintiff; defamation	Settled December 2024; ABC paid $16M to Trump’s library and legal fees
Policy / executive order challenges	Administration lawsuits	753 cases active as of April 2026
Federal criminal cases (Smith)	Criminal	Both dropped November 2024 after Trump’s election win
NY hush money criminal case	Criminal	Guilty verdict; sentencing indefinitely delayed

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Legal claims and outcomes depend on specific facts and applicable law. For advice regarding a particular situation, consult a qualified attorney.