Trump Asks the Supreme Court for More Time to Revive His Sanctioned Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton

In a Supreme Court filing made public on July 28, 2026, President Trump requested an additional month — until Sept. 9 — to seek review of an appeals court decision upholding the dismissal of his 2022 lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and more than two dozen others of conspiring to tie his 2016 campaign to Russia. Justice Clarence Thomas granted the extension. The Eleventh Circuit had ruled 3-0 against Trump and affirmed nearly $1 million in sanctions against him and his lawyer Alina Habba for what it called a frivolous filing; two of the three judges on the panel were appointed by Republican presidents, including one by Trump.

Trump indicated his eventual appeal would focus on the appeals court's conclusion that he waited too long to sue. A sitting president continuing to press a private damages claim against a former opponent, after two courts rejected it and imposed sanctions, keeps a personal grievance on the Supreme Court's docket.

No certiorari petition has been filed yet, and the sanctions ruling stands unless the Court agrees to hear the case. The request came the same week Trump's lawyers asked the justices to take up the $83.3 million defamation verdict won by E. Jean Carroll.