Donald Trump Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Overveiw

Donald Trump Sexual Misconduct Allegation refer to the numerous alleged instances in which United States President Donald Trump engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior toward a woman. At least 15 women have accused Trump of unwanted touching, sexual harassment and/or assault since the 1980s.

Background

Beginning in the 1980s, Donald Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct my numerous women. Trump would later be caught admitting to such behavior on a "hot mic," while getting off a bus during an Access Hollywood interview, where in which he said:

"“I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it. I did try and fuck her. She was married. And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, ’I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.’ I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.

“I’ve got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her. You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful--I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything. … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Following the release of the tapes, more women came forward to accuse Trump of sexually inappropriate behavior.

Developments

Janet Leeds -- 1980s

In a 2016 New York Times^[1] article, Janet Leeds alleged that in the 1980s, she sat next to Donald Trump on a plane. As the plane took off, Trump "lifted the armrest and began to touch her," grabbing her breasts and attempting to reach under her skirt. Leeds fled to the back of the plane.

"He was like an octopus," she said in the interview. "His hands were everywhere. It was an assault.”^[2]

Trump spokesman Jason Miller dismissed the article as "fiction." Trump would later say in a 2016 campaign rally, "Believe me. She would not be my first choice. That I can tell you. You don't know. That would not be my first choice."^[3]

Ivana Trump -- 1989

In the 1993 unauthorized biography of Trump, his first wife Ivana Trump accused Trump of assaulting her, following a "painful scalp reduction surgery." The book says:

"After a painful scalp reduction surgery to remove a bald spot, Donald Trump confronted his then-wife, who had previously used the same plastic surgeon.

" 'Your f**] doctor has ruined me!' Trump cried.

"What followed was a 'violent assault,' according to Lost Tycoon. Donald held back Ivana's arms and began to pull out fistfuls of hair from her scalp, as if to mirror the pain he felt from his own operation. He tore off her clothes and unzipped his pants.

" 'Then he jams his penis inside her for the first time in more than sixteen months. Ivana is terrified… It is a violent assault,' Hurt writes. 'According to versions she repeats to some of her closest confidantes, 'he raped me.'

"Following the incident, Ivana ran upstairs, hid behind a locked door, and remained there 'crying for the rest of night.' When she returned to the master bedroom in the morning, he was there.

"As she looks in horror at the ripped-out hair scattered all over the bed, he glares at her and asks with menacing casualness: 'Does it hurt?'"

Ahead of the books release, Ivana clarified her account in the book. She said:

"On one occasion during 1989, Mr. Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage. As a woman, I felt violated, as the love and tenderness, which he normally exhibited towards me, was absent. I referred to this as a 'rape,' but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense."

In a 2015 statement, Ivana denied ever making the allegation. She said,^[4] "I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit."

Kristin Anderson -- 1990s

In a 2016 Washington Post^[5] article, Kristin Anderson alleged that in the 1990s, Donald Trump slid "his fingers slid under her miniskirt, moved up her inner thigh and touched her vagina through her underwear."

In an email statement, White House spokesperson Hope Hicks wrote, "Mr. Trump strongly denies this phony allegation by someone looking to get some free publicity. It is totally ridiculous."

Jill Harth -- 1992

In a 1996 court despoitions, former business partner Jill Harth alleged that Donald Trump sexually harassed her in a meeting with her then-boyfriend George Houraney.^[6] She said:

"Donald Trump stared at me throughout that meeting. He stared at me even while George was giving his presentation. … In the middle of it he says to George, 'Are you sleeping with her?' Meaning me. And George looked a little shocked and he said, 'Well, yeah.' And he goes, 'Well, for the weekend or what?'

Later, on December 12th, 1992, she, Houraney and Trump went to dinner and club. At one point, Trump put his hands up Harth's skirt and touched her crotch.^[7]

Trump has denied the allegation.

Two Unnamed 14-Year-Old Girls -- 1992

Allegedly, in 1992, two 14-year-old girls were singing in a youth choir outside of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. The Chicago Tribune reported the story as "Donald Trump turned up Monday for a carol sing by a youth choir outside Manhattan's Plaza Hotel. He asked two of the girls how old they were. After they responded they were 14, Trump said, 'Wow! Just think -- in a couple of years I'll be dating you."^[15]

Unnamed Girl -- 1992

In 1992, Entertainment Tonight^[16] segment, Donald Trump can be heard making inappropriate comments toward what sounds like a young girl. He says of the girl, "'m going to be dating her in 10 years. Can you believe it?"

Mariah Billado -- 1997

Mariah Billado, former Miss Vermont 1997, told BuzzFeed ^[17] that Donald Trump entered her dressing room unannounced. When the girls in the room attempted to cover themselves, he said, "Don't worry, ladies, I've seen it all before."

In a 2005 interview with Howard Stern,^[18] Trump admitted to this kind of behavior. He said:

"Well, what you could also say is that, as the owner of the pageant, it's your obligation to do that.

"Well, I'll tell you the funniest is that before a show, I'll go backstage and everyone's getting dressed, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere, and I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it. You know, I'm inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good.

"You know, the dresses. 'Is everyone okay?' You know, they're standing there with no clothes. 'Is everybody okay?' And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that."

Temple Taggart -- 1997

Former Miss Ohio Temple Taggart has alleged that Donald Trump gave her or attempted to give her unwanted kisses on the lips while he was married to Marla Maples in 1997.^[8]

Trump has denied the allegation saying that he is reluctant to kiss strangers on the lips.

Karena Virginia -- 1998

In a 2016 article for Yahoo,^[9] Karena Virginia said that Trump had grabbed her breast outside the 1998 U.S. Open. She said, "He then walked up to me and reached his right arm and grabbed my right arm. Then his hand touched the right inside of my breast. I was in shock. I flinched. ‘Don’t you know who I am. Don’t you know who I am,’ That’s what he said to me. I felt intimidated and I felt powerless."

A Trump spokesperson called the account "fictional."

Bridget Sullivan -- 2000

While she was the 2000 Miss New Hampshirt, Bridget Sullivan claims that Donald Trump would go backstage while women were still dressing. She told BuzzFeed:^[17]

"While preparing for the national broadcast in 2000, Trump came backstage to wish the contestants good luck, even though many of the women weren't dressed. 'The time that he walked through the dressing rooms was really shocking. We were all naked.'"

Trump called this and the other stories published in the BuzzFeed piece "totally false."

Tasha Dixon -- 2001

Miss Arizona 2001 Tasha Dixon told CBS that Trump had entered the backstage of a pagent while the women were still dressing. She said:

"He just came strolling right in. There was no second to put a robe on or any sort of clothing or anything. Some girls were topless, other girls were naked.

"To have the owner come waltzing in when we're naked or half naked in a very physically vulnerable position, and then to have the pressure of the people that work for him telling us to go fawn all over him, go walk up to him, talk to him…"

Trump spokesperson Jessica Ditto denied the allegation. She said, "These accusations have no merit and have already been disproven by many other individuals who were present."

Mindy McGillivray -- 2003

In 2016, Mindy McGillivray told the Palm Beach Post^[10] that Trump grabbed her buttocks at a 2003 event at Mar-a-lago. She said:

"All of a sudden I felt a grab, a little nudge. I think it's [my friend Ken Davidoff's] camera bag, that was my first instinct. I turn around and there's Donald. He sort of looked away quickly

"This was a pretty good nudge. More of a grab. It was pretty close to the center of my butt. I was startled. I jumped."

Spokesperson Hope Hicks told NPR,^[2] "There is no truth to this whatsoever."

Rachel Crooks -- 2005

In 2016, Rachel Crooks, a receptionist at a firm in Trump Tower, said that in 2005 Trump kissed her on the cheek and moved toward her mouth without permission.

The allegation was published in the same article as the one made by Jessica Leeds. To the article, Trump spokesperson Jason Miller wrote:

"This entire article is fiction, and for the New York Times to launch a completely false, coordinated character assassination against Mr. Trump on a topic like this is dangerous. To reach back decades in an attempt to smear Mr. Trump trivializes sexual assault, and it sets a new low for where the media is willing to go in its efforts to determine this election.

"It is absurd to think that one of the most recognizable business leaders on the planet with a strong record of empowering women in his companies would do the things alleged in this story, and for this to only become public decades later in the final month of a campaign for president should say it all.

"Further, the Times story buries the pro-Clinton financial and social media activity on behalf of Hillary Clinton's candidacy, reinforcing that this truly is nothing more than a political attack. This is a sad day for the Times."

Natasha Stoynoff -- 2005

In 2016, People^[11] magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff disclosed an alleged attack made by Donald Trump upon her, while she was profiling him for a 2005 issue of People. She wrote, "We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds, he was pushing me against the wall, and forcing his tongue down my throat. … I was stunned. And I was grateful when Trump's longtime butler burst into the room a minute later, as I tried to unpin myself."

The day after the article published, on October 13th, 2016, Trump tweeted,^[12] Why didn't the writer of the twelve year old article in People Magazine mention the "incident" in her story. Because it did not happen!" The tweet (shown below) received more than 14,000 retweets and 39,000 likes in a year and a half.

Jessica Drake -- 2006

After meeting him at golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in 2006, Jessica Drakes claims that Donald Trump hugged and kissed her without permission. Following the incident, she was invited to meet with Trump a second time. She said:

"He said Donald wanted me to come back upstairs to Donald's suite. I indicated I did not wish to return. Then Donald called. He asked me to return to his suite and have dinner with him. He also invited me to a party; I declined. Donald then asked me, 'What do you want? How much?' I told him that I couldn't because I had to return to LA for work. I said that as an excuse because I didn't want him to continue asking me, and I didn't want to be with him.

"After that, I received another call from either Donald, or a male calling on his behalf, offering me $10,000. I declined again and once more gave, as an excuse, that I had to return to Los Angeles for work. I was then told Mr. Trump would allow me to use his private jet only if I accepted his private invitation."

In an email statement, the Trump campaign denied the allegation.^[13] They wrote:

"This story is totally false and ridiculous. The picture is one of thousands taken out of respect for people asking to have their picture taken with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump does not know this person, does not remember this person and would have no interest in ever knowing her. This is just another attempt by the Clinton campaign to defame a candidate who just today is number one in three different polls. Anyone who would pay thugs to incite violence at a rally against American citizens, as was released on video, will stop at nothing. Just another example of the Clinton campaign trying to rig the election."

Summer Zervos -- 2007

In an October 2016 press conference (shown below), former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos alleged that Trump had "aggressively" kissed her and touched her breast. Additionally, she said that Trump attempted to lead her to a bedroom. When she tried to leave, he hugged her. As she pushed him away, he began thrusting his genitals.

Trump denied the allegation. He said, "To be clear, I never met her at a hotel or greeted her inappropriately a decade ago. That is not who I am as a person, and it is not how I've conducted my life."

Cassandra Searles -- 2013

In a June 2016 Facebook ^[14] post, former Miss Washington 2013 Cassandra Searles wrote, "Do y'all remember that one time we had to do our onstage introductions, but this one guy treated us like cattle and made us do it again because we didn't look him in the eyes? Do you also remember when he then proceeded to have us lined up so he could get a closer look at his property? Oh I forgot to mention that guy will be in the running to become the next President of the United States. I love the idea of having a misogynist as the President. #‎HeWillProbablySueMe ‬‪#‎iHaveWorseStoriesSoComeAtMeBro‬ ‪#‎Drumpf‬."

In the comments to the post, Searles wrote, "He probably doesn't want me telling the story about that time he continually grabbed my ass and invited me to his hotel room."

Erin Burnett's Unnamed Accuser -- 2010

On October 7th, 2016, CNN anchor Erin Burnett reported that a friend of hers claimed that Donald Trump attempted to kiss her in 2010. During the broadcast (shown below), the exchange is described:

"Trump took Tic Tacs, suggested I take them also. He then leaned in, catching me off guard, and kissed me almost on lips. I was really freaked out. … After (the meeting), Trump asked me to come into his office alone. Was really unsure what to do. … Figured I could handle myself. Anyway, once in his office he kept telling me how special I am and gave me his cell, asked me to call him. I ran the hell out of there."

Search Interest

External References