A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a jury verdict ordering US President-elect Donald Trump to pay US$5 million for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.

A New York jury found after a nine-day civil trial last year that the former president had sexually abused Carroll at a Manhattan department store in 1996.

Trump was ordered to pay US$2 million for sexual abuse and another US$3 million for defaming Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine.

Trump denied the allegations and appealed the verdict on the grounds that two other women who said Trump had sexually assaulted them too should not have been allowed to testify.

The three-judge panel of the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.

"We conclude that Mr Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings," they said.

"Further, he has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial."

Carroll was awarded US$83 million by another jury in a separate case she brought against Trump. He has also appealed that verdict. (AFP)