A jury has found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $US5 million ($A7.4 million).
The verdict was announced in a federal courtroom in New York City on the first day of jury deliberations.
Jurors rejected Carroll's claims that she was raped but found Trump liable for sexually abusing her.
Hours earlier, US District Judge Lewis A Kaplan read instructions on the law to the nine-person jury before the panel began discussing Carroll's allegations of battery and defamation shortly before noon.
Trump, who did not attend the trial, has insisted he never sexually assaulted Carroll or even knew her.
Kaplan told jurors that the first question on the verdict form was to decide whether they think there is more than a 50 per cent chance that Trump raped Carroll inside a store dressing room.
If they answered yes, they would then decide whether compensatory and punitive damages should be awarded.
If they answered no on the rape question, they could then decide if Trump subjected her to lesser forms of assault involving sexual contact without her consent or forcible touching to degrade her or gratify his sexual desire.
If they answered yes on either of those questions, they will decide if damages are appropriate.
On defamation claims stemming from a statement Trump made on social media last October, Kaplan said jurors needed to be guided by a higher legal standard - clear and convincing evidence.
© AP 2023