Trump's followers are scarier than him. They either do not believe the truth or they excuse it, using God as a cover up.
28
How is it that a married man whose wife is expecting or has already delivered a new baby is not at home with his 'family' but is, instead, hanging around at the Playboy Mansion with nearly-naked young women? Why is that? Is that 'okay' in Trump's World? Obviously, the answer is 'yes'. Then there's Stormy!
20
Well, this is surprising.
11
So extra incredible in light of the fact Trump put Bill Clinton's affair and assault accusers in the audience of one of the Presidential Debates. A true sign of how vile and amoral the Trump is. No shame, no sense of hypocrisy, just showmanship and cruelty.
32
New word for Webster's: trumptramp
10
Since he has been shopping for wife #4, why does wife #3 stay with him? Why do Republicans think this person was ethically qualified to be their flag bearer? There is a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.
13
"Intelligence and charm?"
19
Rich man beds attractive woman, pays her to keep it quiet.
A first for humankind, certainly.
9
I can’t decide who is the bigger loser: Trump, who basically has to pay for sex to boost his fragile ego, or the woman who was impressed by his intelligence.
32
It's sad that women as beautiful as her stoop so low. No wonder his ego is out of control. He's a jerk but gorgeous women cater to his whims. Then other women say how did this happen? Well ladies....
6
How is this any different from something that Bill Clinton would have done? Its not. The difference is reaction, whereas liberals, especially feminists, ignored Clinton's infidelity, they are very critical of Trump's alleged infidelity. For the liberal, infidelity among their own is fine, but infidelity by conservatives is not. Liberal hypocrisy. Trump may have an affair with this woman and others, but none have yet to come forward with stories of him inviting them to his hotel room, raping them, and then exiting the room saying "put some ice on that lip." Thank you.
4
Inquiring people want to know why the Enquirer buys story to sit on them. I thought they were in the crazy news business, not the snuff box kind.
8
This could indicate that the #METOO movement, like the #BLM movement, has reached its apogee and is beginning to subside. Apparently there are many folks like this women that ride such movements for cash and attention. They diminish those that suffer legitimate anguish and damage but they do help balance the scales of populist social movements with their blatant narcissism, maliciousness or delusion.
5
There's a lot bad about this, and a part that is terrifying.
We all know plenty of sleazy people, the ones with appetites exceeding polite standards and self interest forming their only interest. In private life we steer around or accommodate these difficult people as situations require. They are best engineered out of one's life.
We don't know many with a developed network of good fellas ready to cover their tracks. Someone with that kind of support network starts to take on the manipulative, and dangerous, aspect of a mafia don. In this case, a Donald. Moving such a person into public office makes them unavoidable and the situation unacceptable. That's why character counts in government - we're stuck with the bums.
Trump didn't leave his cleanup network behind when he took the oval office. The way he runs the place, it appears that he expanded it. And where does the notion that he has changed or will change his ways come from? He told us he could shoot someone on the street and it wouldn't affect his success. He expects to act with impunity, ensured by minions and enablers. That will not change.
The real issue here is not infidelity, disrespect for women or sexual morality, though they are indeed issues. The bigger problem is Trumps accretion and abuse of power. I expect more of the same as long as Trump is in office.
14
She thought he was intelligent and charming. Really?
11
When will we start referring to Trump's, and his GOP & at Fox entertainment chorus, alt-facts as "alleged" opinion until they are proven in court?
6
Why would a lawyer use 'his own money' to pay off the lover of a client? Why would a wildly irresponsible tabloid known for trying to ruin just about anyone 'hold' or 'not use' a story this juicy? Oh let me guess, these are 'friends' of the President just doing things 'they' want to do. Nothing at all to do with Trump. REALLY? Are people believing this?
10
What ever happened to discretion? The man is sounding more like John F. Kennedy by the day.
4
Do you really think he stopped with her ?
7
It sure makes me miss the happily married Obamas and their beautiful daughter.
21
This information was Melania’s Valentine’s gift and I don’t think she took it well. Yesterday Melania took a car to Andrews instead of the helicopter with her husband and her spokesperson had some unsubstantiated reason for it. Sorry, we’ve seen this story played out before, Davos anyone?
9
She should tell her story in full. There are several legal cases where similar "privishing"of stories has occurred. Courts generally say that a publisher cannot buy a story and then fail to make a good faith effort to publish it. Otherwise it is privishing and illegal. Tell your story!
7
You buy them books, send them to school, and this is the result? Trump's daddy sure has a lot to be proud of.
3
Why don't the right wing evangelicals care about this conduct?
17
The president has lived his life as a man who gets what he wants and he seems to want beautiful young, buxom women - blond and brunette - whenever his sexual appetite moves him. And so, like other powerful men, he sets up the machinery to go after them. It must give him a power rush and with his money he can convince some women to engage in liaisons even while he is married and his wife is expecting a child. It's an old, banal story.
The problem is that this man is now the president. He controls ultimate power in our government except for the oversight of Congress. The weenies that control both houses of Congress are not inclined to deny the president what he wants. They have to react to his shifting whims and his grandiose idea of power in the Oval Office.
Perhaps Karen McDougal might be helping more Americans realize the moral vacuity that resides in the president. If he can support Roy Moore for a Senate seat, he might be willing to support Russian trolls for what they can do to bend the imagination of millions of Americans to support him.
4
Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels are very good looking. Trump has better taste in women than Bill Clinton.
3
Will it be Karen McDougal or Stormy Daniels who ascends to the podium in the summer of 2020 to solemnly nominate Donald John Trump for the approval of the Republican Party?
3
I guess with this revelation, along with this many others combined with the still supportive rantings of the religious right, we can finally put a stake in the heart of the myth that the Republican party is the party of "family values".
8
Boy, Trump can certainly pick them! And to have this 'protection' done by The Enquirer, which practically invented fake news, takes all this into the realm of farce. Calling Carl Hiaasen!
6
Historians have written numerous articles about how America somehow seems to get the kind of President it needs... now, suddenly, I'm not so sure I want to live to see what's in our future.
2
"sometimes using the pieces as leverage"
Call it what it is BLACKMAIL
10
Are these the oft talked about Republican family values?
7
The notion of having an affair with Trump is surprising in that it's simultaneously commonplace and nauseating; however, the greatest surprise is that this woman—based on the headline—had the affair within a New Yorker article. I can't even imagine the contortions!
The use of language is perhaps the least understood, least criticized, and pernicious element of media bias and manipulation.
In this headline somebody "Describes Alleged Affair With Trump". This is very different from a headline in which someone "Alleges Affair With Trump".
Unless we are lying, when we describe something, the thing we describe is understood to have happened as we describe it. When someone alleges something, we understand that we should consider the allegation as tentative and demanding additional scrutiny.
This is just a minor example of ongoing, obvious media bias in the coverage of the current president (whose name I will not utter unless making a direct quotation). The major media outlets play into his game by displaying their bias when instead they should be doubling down on integrity and reinforcing mechanisms to reduce bias.
12
I fail to see the difference between describing something, with the understanding that the description may or may not be true, alleging something, with the understanding that the allegation may or may not be true and describing an allegation, with the understanding that both the allegation and the description of it may or may not be true. If the use of this language displays any kind of media bias, it would seem to be a bias that the media outlet has against suffering any legal and financial risk (not to mention the risk of damaged credibility) if the descriptions turn out to be inaccurate or an outright lie.
My (unsolicited) advice would be to first understand things before you endeavor to explain or criticize.
The Times is reporting on another publication’s reporting. The piece in question describes the alleged affair, with quotes from Karen McDougal’s original notes. The headline accurately describes the content both in the Times and the New Yorker. This was a case of follow-up reporting on the details of purchasing a story to kill that content, not a new allegation of an affair. That would be a different piece, no doubt with a different headline...
2
She took the money.
9
She took the money for a story that was bought with the intention to bury it. She did not know at the time that her story was meant to be hidden from the public. What is your point exactly?
5
I don't believe embarrassment is a trait Trump can feel. Rather, I'd bet he is rather more thrilled at the release of this kind of information, as it pads his ego, revealing his yuge sexual prowess (even if it is bought).
Russian videos (should they exist) might also be irrelevant to him.
As for the evangelicals, they will turn a blind eye, so long as he espouses one or two views and/or appointments that they favor.
24
What we know now is that Russians actively interfered with the 2016 election to get the Liar in Chief elected...We know he has lied about his affairs and even denied his own sexually demeaning remarks that are captured on tape. If you care to look, you can see how he hugs his daughter--if having affairs is not domestic abuse certainly what looks like incestuous touching and the remarks about Ivanka--but everyone knows he does not support domestic violence. And the lack of security clearances--it seems anyone who can put up with Trump can have access to these classified docs--and Trump and his supporters made a big deal about emails being on a server that was not compromised? How many diners at his Fl estate get to see these docs as Trump tries to impress them by reviewing them while he eats yet another piece of beautiful chocolate cake. Lock him up!!!
17
I am seeing a couple of key words in these comments....blackmail and racketeering. Those look like impeachable offenses to me.
19
If Ms. McDougal thought Trump was "intelligent" and "charming", I can fully understand how she was later duped by the National Enquirer.
While physical perfection, in both men and women, can bring significant advantages, those advantages can also keep one from doing the necessary work to become a critical thinking person, and a true exemplar of the species.
Better to strive for a beautiful mind - for that mind will last longer.
36
I get physically ill when I hear pious remarks coming out of the mouth of this lying, cheating, self-centered, unrepentant disaster who has done, and is continuing to do, more harm to more people than I can possibly imagine.
44
How ironic that one of Trump's catchphrases prior to the election was "drain the swamp" . Every day of my life I feel like I am trying to rid myself of the stench and detritus and malevolent ooze that emanates from him . The fetid swamp that is spreading under his guidance will take a generation to drain .
47
It I see official -- we have a new "TEFLON DON". His supporters do not care, as long as he delivers the tax cuts and sends money and access up the chain his bankrupt character will never be an issue to them.
16
This happened prior to Trump becoming president. How many sitting presidents had affairs? Let's start with JFK and Ike to FDR...and keep on going....
1
How is any of Trump's behavior of blackmail value? His lack of moral is well known but still receive the same support.
5
A widely circulated story about Isadora Duncan and George Bernard Shaw includes the exchange "Will you be the father of my next child? A combination of my beauty and your brains would startle the world," but he replied: "I must decline your offer with thanks, for the child might have my beauty and your brains." Sadly, in the case of Trump-McDougal, it probably doesn’t matter which way it turned out.
26
So AMI, and Trump for that matter, now are neutered if they attempt to enforce non-disclosure agreements. A vigilant press corps quickly will catch any litigation, and plaintiffs will need to explain why they’re enforcing an agreement that never existed over something that never happened. I wonder how many voices Trump has silenced.
10
The fact that Stormy and Karen sold their stories for only $130,000 and $150,000 respectively is the part of the story that mystifies me. They should have demanded there be another zero at the end of each amount. Cheap trysts, cheap payments, cheap Trump.
24
If Mr. Trump were not elected the president, he would not be able to obtain security clearance, being vulnerable to blackmail. We need to require security clearance for candidates running for national office.
29
All we need now is to find out that one of the myriad affairs was with a Russian spy. Somehow that dossier pops into my mind's eye with a fresh view. Does not seem so far-fetched now. What a disgrace for our country.
25
That many Americans are blindly supporting him, his cabinet and administrative policies is like the scariest Steven King novel. Yikes, these people are insane!
Whom ever is holding on to Trumps leash, I sure hope they have a good grip because this guy is ready for the butterfly net, a tranquilizer dart, and a padded cell.
And he is president of the United States of America?
23
Of course, there could be nothing going on and the various EverTrump friends just feel like giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars, just because. Doesn't seem likely. I would guess there must more more that one other recipient of this largess out there's who is perfectly happy, or to scared, to ever breathe a word. Of course His many supporters who say we should be focusing on the larger issues of governing are right, but it would be nice if He hadn't provided us the opportunity for distraction in the first place. One last thought, there seems to be a pattern here, a woman in every port if you will. What might happen if He indulged his appetite someplace like, Moscow, where His money is no good and the payoff is in some other currency?
12
Compared to Bill Clinton's impeachment for lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice, the list of Trump's lies and obstructions would be a book on the scale of "War and Peace."
22
Well, first you'd have to get him under oath.
6
Ask Melania if he was under oath.
1
He'd only lie!
4
In this country, we are innocent until proven guilty.
Only a court of law can resolve that question. Even financial settlements and non-disclosure statements cannot be used to wave the guilt flag, for there are often reasons why settlements occur -- just look at the City of Seattle which chose to grant a $150,000 settlement to a man who claimed that the Mayor of Seattle, Ed Murray, molested him sexually 2 decades prior.
There was no admission of guilt, but money certainly did transfer. Murray still says he's innocent. No one believes him either.
But, I cannot accept this trendy, and egregious new national pastime of "accusations reign supreme". No, a court of law reigns supreme.
5
Is it a felony or misdemeanor to pay someone to take care of a situation that you don't want discussed? I'm going this very day to pay a guy so that he doesn't seek auto repair damages from my auto insurer. Not against the law.
And please, let's not hear about how "un-Presidential" is it have an affair. I think that we can look to Democrat icons past and present to determine that the howling jackals to come from the Left have no credibility on this one.
1
I don't particularly admire Melania Trump, but how much humiliation can one woman take? Perhaps now is the time pack her bags, find a good divorce lawyer, get custody of Baron and write a tell-all about her life with the toxic menace. It might even be a best seller and make her a rich woman in her own right.
43
Maggie, what should she write in this book? I got exactly back what i did to others?
Remember, trump was married when they started to fool around.
what should the little be,
"Only ion America, form gold digging nude model to first lady" ?
I can not feel sorry for that women, sorry.
1
Because Melanie got a lot more out of him to stick around till he gets defeated in his re-election campaign or impeached , which ever comes sooner
1
She knew what she was signing up for. I don't think she feels humiliated. I don't think she cares what her husband does, as long as he doesn't impose himself on her. She is swimming in money, designer clothes and importance and she has her son. She is getting what she wanted out of this relationship.
2
I would just like to have a president who doesn't lie, repeatedly, about everything. is that too much to ask?
41
Once again Trump got caught with his pants down. Kudos to Karen for exposing him.
15
Who cares! Does this really matter in governing a country? Let’s move on.
5
Trump's sleezy behavior, chronic lying and mean we do not have a man of integrity with a semblance of moral compass 'governing our country'. That is a problem!
19
I'm struck by your simplistic question. I grew up being taught that character matters. "You'll be judged by the friends you keep"..."If you sleep with dogs you'll get fleas"...etc. President Trump's damaged and pathological character affects the governing of our country every day. YES...this REALLY does matter in marriage, parenting, educating, leadership, problem solving and certainly in governing our country.
8
It speaks—as so many things do—of Trump's inability to stick to the truth.
14
President Obama: in 8 yrs. not a hint of scandal, not from him, not from his cabinet members, not from his staff.
76
Except for the small detail of using the IRS to harass and intimidate his political opponents.
3
And never a question about his fidelity to his wife and children.
19
Which of course never happened.
5
Who cares? We have so many more things to worry about than the president ‘s private life before he was president. Why don’t we all use our energies to do something about important things, gun control comes to mind right now, instead of worrying about this? This is Melania’s problem, not ours!!
3
Look, just like your average NYT reader, I wish Trump had never happened. But this story - or any other piece on his many affairs - is not a big deal. Come on NYT, cheating spouses is the oldest story in the book. It happens all the time.
6
Note to Melania: New York still allows for a fault-based divorce. It will help you overturn that pernicious prenuptial agreement you both signed. You can take Bannon a run. If you don't you might be held liable for the deads of your spouse. Imagine the tax liability Trump represents, when it's discovered that he owes vast millions in back taxes and fines. You came to America to have a new life and you now can have one . . . Run!
22
Demoralized we are. Sad. No place to hide from these stories can we. The one thing he does not do is drink or do drugs. Will Melania see this as abuse finally? Tune in for more soap opera, our reality nightmare.
2
For sale, 4 more years sign.
2
The National Enquirer rather than being a propagator of true trash, is really rather a cynical, sinister enabler of bad folks, like Donald Trump. whom it seems to curry favor.
A boycott is in order.
5
Noting sticks to the scoundrel of a President trump .
People say, oh it is trump ?
No surprise to that .
3
And then it was on... flabby fatty thighs!
6
It looks like Donald Trump and Bill Clinton have more in common than one might think. Of course the difference is Congress. There will be no investigations of The Teflon Donald as long as the Republicans hold the majorities.
Which, liberal that I am, is fine by me. That both presidents are smarmy is obvious.
Clinton's time is done. As for Trump, there are much better reasons to castrate his presidency.
8
What does this have to with Trump's presidency? Nothing.
1
It's just more evidence of his complete lack of character and his revolting taste in cohorts, by which I do not mean the woman in question, but the publisher of the National Enquirer. It also reveals the utter hypocrisy of the GOP, who impeached Clinton for the same sin that Trump indulges in on a daily basis, lying. I'm a Democrat and thought it was a ridiculous reason to impeach a president, nor would I suggest it merits the same where Trump is concerned. Reactions to the fact that Trump is a philanderer, however, are extremely telling all the way around. To me, it is the least of his list of revolting characteristics.
9
Well, it sort of goes to character. A pregnant wife, a new-born son, the lies, the cheating, the despicable human being that he is. Can you expect any decent caring for his fellow citizens when he just doesn't seem to know right from wrong?
2
Denial. Not pretty when it comes to a whoremongering president who lies to his playmates the same way he lies to you, the misguided Trump supporter. But I'm sure you're enjoying the free universal health care Trump promised you during the campaign, along with his promise never to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, all of which get slashed in his proposed new budget.
What Trump whispers into the ear of a sex worker is exactly as truthful and sincere as what he says to you from a podium.
5
Trump = Intelligence + Charm? This will have me laughing for a full day, at least.
22
I wonder if the National Enquirer has any stories on ice from women named Natasha or Anastasia or Veronika? Whether a 'friend' or not, a 'publisher' who pays off for stories about extramarital affairs and then ices them sure has leverage... this is a good definition of 'blackmailable'. Trump has so many skeletons in his closet (his very very large, luxurious gold-leaf walk-in closet) that's it would be more of a surprise if Putin didn't have puppet strings on him. No wonder the Russians wanted him as president, they own him entirely.
14
This is the kind of story Trump loves to see on the front page: beautiful women so attracted to him that they lose their minds. Much better than facing the raft of Russians indicted for conspiracy against the US, or even acknowledging that those Russians were partly responsible for Trump's election.
Trump better snap out of his coma quickly. Glad that Mueller is giving him a kick in the pants in the right direction.
11
If this story and related ones are near true, you have an amoral President - cold comfort to any but Machiavelli fans.
4
The golden shower incident is sounding more plausible.
21
I have no doubt that it took place.
4
This woman had a consensual affair, then got paid $150,000 not to talk about it. Now she is complaining that the payment was "exploitative". Give me a break!
6
Yeah, you should certainly blame her and exonerate him of all wrongdoing!
3
Who cares as long as we get our judges, tax cuts, killing regulations, opening oil and gas fields, religious freedom, rising stock market, raising retirement accounts, raising real estate values, raising consumer confidence, record low unemployment for blacks, and expanding economy for all Americans, and a better future for our children.
All since the election.
Who cares?
5
While I could care less about Trump's sordid personal life, despite his decades of feeding tabloids trying to pique our interest, this does add another confirmation of what I believe is the truth -- the man does not have one redeeming quality in his make up.
I can't think of any other person who is not a known criminal about who I'd say the same, but then most deviant personalities don't have the same insatiable need for constant attention.
14
Seriously, who cares if Trump had an affair? It’s his business, this is tabloid news about more tabloid news. However, it would at this point behove the Republican party to STOP talking about family values since you have absolutely zero claim to that now.
21
Quite the ‘president’ the nation has! All we keep hearing either about him from others or from the man himself (stupid tweets and so on), only illustrates how vulnerable Trump is and how vulnerable he has made this current presidency!
3
I surmise that many Trump defenders have concluded that the nature of his failings do not render him a monster, a misfit or unfit for office. Perhaps they see in him human tendencies all struggle with and sometimes give in to.
Among the detractors, perhaps too many bemoan the fact that, in their perception, he has the morals of a snake, if that is not be insensitive to those subtle creatures.
What might be more of an issue to others is what appears to be his incessant restlessness. He keeps busy, building towers, having conquests, hiring and firing people, getting married, divorced, thriving and going bankrupt. Climb every mountain, or level it.
Of art, they said, it was what you could get away with. Our high energy President is now loose cannoning it in the political sphere.
Facing his mortality at this point must be a desperate prospect. I think of the end of King Herod.
2
Trump is still president because his supporters care nothing about ethics and morality, they care only about political power. The rich tycoons behind him (Koch, Adelson, Murdoch, etc.) know that he can be manipulated and will do anything to keep him in power. The so called "religious right" is actually the totally hypocritical right, who also care about nothing other than being able to shove their religion down the throats of others. The entire Trump community is totally disgusting.
13
She didn't she didn’t get $150,000. After the payoffs to the three men who put the deal together, she only got $75,000.
3
FDR, IKE (during WWII), JFK... the list may be longer. Trump is not alone.
4
....."that AMI engages in any practice that would allow it to hold influence over the President of the United States is laughable,” No one is laughing Mr. Parker. It is becoming obvious that NDA a legal way of setting up blackmail. These agreements to "protect a friend" only work if the person stays as your friend. If Parker and Trump have a falling out does Parker use his NDA to discuss issues and of course have Trump see it your way? Think about all of Trump's other former friends such as Manafort, Bannon, Sessions, Scaramucci, Page and of course the king of blackmail Putin. All these former friends have information regarding Trump's businesses dealings and behavior. Do they control over the narrative because they may hold NDAs? Trump's NDAs have put American democracy at risk and put our democracy solely in the hands of people holding these agreements.
6
Donal Trump is cartoonishly faithless, shameless, shallow, graceless, gluttonous, selfish, cruel, bigoted, vindictive, petulant, ignorant, arrogant, erratic, mendacious, craven, insecure, and - despite all his endless and non-sensical pretense to the contrary - utterly small.
Sadly, however, he is not a cartoon character. He is the president of the United States and his party controls both houses of Congress.
The midterm elections are in 261 days, 18 hours, 34 minutes, and 17 seconds. But who's counting?
18
This would have been a huge story in any other presidency, but Donald Trump just does so many immoral and illegal things, it pales in comparison to most of them. That doesn't make it right, and also doesn't make it normal. Trump is an evil, selfish, corrupt man. He has no business being president.
12
Nothing our president could possibly do surprises me anymore. Cheating on his wife during and after her pregnancy reveals a troubling side of he president, because if he cheats on his beautiful and dignified wife, what could we possibly expect about the likelihood of him cheating on our nation. It goes to the heart of his character. His behavior is in sharp contrast with our previous president, Mr. Obama, from which you never heard any headlines such as this come out during his eight years in office. Now, an everyday occurrence. And to think that in the eyes of the religious right, Trump could do no wrong. Sick. Sick and sad as Trump would say.
5
I've got nothing.
Typed many screeds...erased them all.
This development isn't shocking, it isn't unexpected. The silence and hair-on-fire faction reactions isn't either.
I'm numb to it all.
They have won, we (we?!) have lost.
Sorry about your dead kids.
Merry Presidents Day everyone.
5
The thing I find most disturbing about these revelations, is the way Trump institutionalized his conduct. It's as if he had a whole business unit dedicated to covering up his infidelity. I guess this is common practice for wealthy, powerful, men - but it sure doesn't reflect well on our gender. Imagine the shame of women who have had these affairs, only to learn that there are paid staff managing them as a business risk.
8
I asked someone from an evangelical Southern family how her relatives reconcile this abhorrent behavior. Her response: "whatever this President does is God's way."
Right.
12
Let’s run the list of powerful political men who had affairs and, in some cases, paid hush money to keep them quiet.
Alexander Hamilton
Thomas Jefferson
John Kennedy
Bill Clinton
Donald Trump.
And there are surely many more. Trump has a profound character flaw, to be sure. So does Bill Clinton. But Trump seems to have much better taste in women.
2
thanks for taking the level of the conversation to such a thoughtful place.
3
None of the politicians you mention were set up for blackmail by America's enemies except for Trump, who gleefully participated in whatever sexual transgressions the Russians staged for him and the cameras.
7
David, re "None of the politicians you mention were set up for blackmail by America's enemies..."
Hamilton, who deserves our admiration and gratitude to this day, was set up for blackmail. It is incidental that they blackmail scheme was not supported by enemies of the republic.
1
I realize that Bill Clinton made Trump's sexual transgressions politically tenable- at least providing Trump supporters with a rationale for sticking with their morally and otherwise despicable candidate- however, the only settlement he ever made was not hush money and was not hidden.
The attempt to hide his actions with huge payoffs or favors to a news publisher is the real scandal here.
4
Every revelation reduces the opportunity for blackmail. All Americans should embrace and encourage more of these investigative activities.
2
Trump will deny it, his supportors will buy his lies, and Congress will remain silent.
Quite a different pattern was followed with Clinton.
9
This story, as the ones referencing Stormy Daniels, is basically pointless.
Who cares if Trump engaged in relationships with these women (outside of his family)? They all agreed to do whatever they did and paid/accepted payments for their 'stories'.
There comes a time where "mind your business" can be an appropriate response. Problem with America is that we're all a tad bit too nosey. Wasting our time with irrelevant dribble.
9
A single person's sex life is irrelevant provided it is non-exploitative and doesn't endanger anyone. Adultery is usually a different story, an indicator of a person's lack of trustworthiness. If someone treats his most sacred promise to a person he presumably loves deeply, what can we expect of his attitude toward less intimate commitments?
It always amazes me how many people shriek about things like same-sex relationships but shrug off adultery. This is one place where the Ten Commandments got itb right.
6
I do. Not for Trump, but for a certain kind of Trump voter. You know the Focus on the Family kind. Evangelicals. The continued support of him by these voters - from most accounts - show that their faith is much more political than even the worst cynic would have believed.
10
"Who cares if Trump engaged in relationships with these women (outside of his family)?...."
I care. Character matters. I want a president who does not lie or cheat, both of which Trump has done with these affairs and their aftermath. If he cannot be depended upon to keep his wedding vows how can we believe he will keep his oath to protect the US Constitution?
3
But of course! This is a time honored tradition. Denton should have learned this and his Gawker empire would have prospered
2
Many of us did vote for the Donald, and we are not better than this. We might be able to become better than this, but the way to do this is horribly unclear and is likely to involve the unpleasantness of trying to talk some sense into people who have other ideas and hold them strongly, and others who prefer to see two sides to every issue.
4
Don’t bother to try to “talk sense” to me about a lying, cheating serial philanderer, thanks - there’s no sense there.
3
I might agree with you if I understood what you were saying. Tell me if I'm wrong: some people who voted for Trump may have resented the Democrats abdication of their pro-labor, good government tradition, but by-and-large they supported his white supremacist authoritarianism. Also, they're so goofed on internet fake news that they can't think straight anymore. How many people do you know who voted for him who won't vote for him again? It seems the recent poll numbers remain largely unchanged.
2
Well, there's little doubt in whom I will believe...the choice is clear. A writer for the reputable and time-tested The New Yorker or the supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer, built on lies and conspiracy theories? If I want to do serious reading its the Times and The New Yorker. If I am impatiently awaiting to be checked out in a supermarket line wrapping around aisles, I will grab the other to be entertained. And even then I hesitate.
But this is actually nothing to be taken lightly. In fact, it is quite a serious matter that this country has a president who is very likely beholden to a foreign and hostile nation as well as crooked and corrupt forces within our borders. It is becoming clearer daily that Trump is a weak, rather debauched, philanderer. Power and greed has consumed his soul to the point of decay. I am reeling, my head spinning, that nothing as yet has been done to at least make an attempt to remove him from office. He is most unfit and unstable, daily putting us, our democracy, at risk. This disgrace has got to stop.
176
How Trump’s team managed to silence all of these women prior to the election is a triumph of Machiavellian misdeeds. It truly feels like there was a perfect storm of dark forces hoisting Trump to victory in that election.
130
All it took was money.
4
All those women were silenced by cold, hard cash. We know what Trump is; pretty much the whole world does. Now we're learning what the going rates are for the women who cavorted with this train wreck of a president.
4
The right's tolerence for hypocracy is at play here and I thnk it will barely produce any effect. Lets wait and see.
62
Nothing will happen. The Republicans seem to have his back.
1
The Republicans would have called for hearings if this was happening to Obama.
And there should BE hearings - do ya think this only happened once? I mean, twice??
When Trump lies about things that he has done, he empowers the people who know the truth. He opens himself up to pressure. Possibly even blackmail.
With Mcdougal's account, it time for Congress to hold an inquiry into Trump's lies about himself.
77
Trump most surely has a history with Russian pros as we know Putin's are the best; his words, not mine.
4
As a Libertarian I believe what married individuals do in private is just that private. Between them and their spouse. Now if the person is a paid politician and he/she has an affair that is different since they work for us, and have given up their right to privacy.
Heck President John F. Kennedy had affairs while President, and the media never reported on this fact. Not until he died and those who had affairs with him spoke up did we the people know. Even the, the New York Times and other media gave the subject little attention.
14
it is not the affair. It is the hush-money, the potential compromise. That is the problem, or shouldn't that be obvious
1
It's not just the affairs, it's the cover up. Its a cynical attempt to deceive the American people who have a right to get an sense of the morality of their national leaders.
4
Unfortunately your seem unaware that, when someone in a position of power lies to those who granted him that power, he becomes susceptible to blackmail.
But other than a president and his keepers who could be pressured to act against the our interests, yeah sure, it's no one's business.
1
Half on this nation should be ashamed of themselves. Is it the half that is disgusted by the thrice married Trump who routinely cheats on those closest to him then has others cover his tracks with money? Is it the half who are ashamed of a man who lies so much his own lawyers do not want him to testify under oath? Is it the half who cringe when he misreads words written for him to show his deepest sympathy for those who have lost so much? Or is it the other half who likes this president’s act, because his public crudeness is such a refreshing departure from past presidents?
36
The Republican Party that casts itself as the party of "traditional family values" and the Christian Evangelical community that has willingly given Trump a pass on his despicable behavior are the definition of hypocrisy. This president has unwittingly exposed them as dishonorable, unethical,and immoral.
88
True, the Republican party does cast itself as the party of traditional family values. And they did offer George Romney to the nation.
Alas, the nation rejected Romney and embraced (sort of) Trump.
The Republican party knows well that a winner with loose morals can do more for your program than a someone with better morals who never gets to see the inside of the White House.
Is there anything decent about him? I mean really.
I personally do not care about his affairs, but
some people do. I do care about his sexual
assaults on women however and that he or
his lawyer bought their silence. Not right.
But think about it, is there any character trait
in trump that you can point to that is admirable?
Of course I am not talking to the trump supporters
who I feel have been terribly lied to and terribly
misled. I will settle for anything, did he ever help
an old person across the street? Did he ever
comfort a friend? Tiffany, the unseen daughter
said in a speech that when some relative on her
mother's side whom she was close to died, he was
the first person to call her and offer condolences.
Does that count? Oh what a tiresome and troublesome
child he is.
42
And yet a Quinnipiac poll recently reported that 72% of registered Republican voters believe that Mr. Trump makes a good role model for children....
3
The National Enquirer is part of Trump's network for buying silence from those he had affairs with, apparently. And they do it out of the kindness of their hearts, with their own money. The National Enquirer gave $150,000 to hush up this one. Trump's lawyer only donated $130,000 dollars to Stephanie Clifford. There have been reports of other affairs. I wonder how much each of them got.
22
Currently, I wonder how much Melania gets paid to stay with him every time one of these humiliating exposures of infidelity come to light. Particularly these attributed to a time not long after they married and she was carrying his fifth child.
1
It should be a crime for Congress to remain silent on this president's behavior and his vulnerabilities to blackmail. The House and Senate need to take a time-out from all other matters until they discuss and weigh-in on the deluge of improprieties spilling from the White House. Americans deserve a public and on-the-record report of where they stand. If a congressman or congresswoman does not speak out against Trump I would consider them complicit and approving of Trump's transgressions. If they wouldn't be proud to side with Trump in a campaign ad, they should make it known.
25
What does it take for his supporters to say enough? He is the true Teflon Don.
14
Please. Teflon is a great product. Let s not defame it.
Melania to Donald: "You haff some 'splainin' to do, kreten! Joost how MANY of these kurba can I expect to haff trown in my obraz in the NEW YORK TIMES before these ees all over?!"
Donald to Melania: "What can I say? I'm cursed with big hands. It shouldn't be more than thirty or forty."
It's worth a yuk or two because it's SO Trump -- but consensual, even if likely spiced by a Bulgari necklace. It might be noted that no American with an IQ over 70 expected behavior any MORE civilized from him. A Playboy bunny, for heaven’s sake: he couldn’t have trolled Columbia for co-eds he could bribe with junior executive jobs?
Melania to Donald: “Thees is going to cost you, big guy. I spend WHOLE DAY in Van Cleef!!”
Hate to say it folks, but he won’t lose a single vote for this come November, 2020.
36
He will. I personally know quite a few people who had voted for him (their feeling was to give him a chance ...). They are totally disgusted with him now and these stories won’t help. And there is nowhere to hide the incredible hypocracy of the failing gop. Just look at all the special election which the democrats are winning. That should tell you what’s going on. Take off your trump colored glasses ....
1
Now that he is president, a non-disclosure-non-disparagement agreement is essentially worthless to him because he cannot sue the woman for breach of it without admitting the adulterous escapade. Exception: if the agreement calls for continuing payments, he can threaten to cut them off if the woman blabs. But since he has so much more to lose than she, even that is only a mild deterrent.
52
The NDA is NOT with Trump. She signed an agreement with a publisher.
5
Helmut is about 20 years behind the times on agreements like this. In modern times, the agreements to cover up things like this are structured as either (a) an NDA that prohibits the woman from speaking publicly about "any relationship," so that she can be sued without admitting that there was such a relationship, and is entered into by a 3rd party (like the NDA with Cohen and Stormy); or (b) a "sale" of rights to the "story," again with a 3rd party, like this arrangement with MacDougal. Trump never has to get involved.
2
Ok, so why isn’t trump forced to step down?
56
I have no use for Trump and the hypocrisy of the GOP, but extra-marital affairs are not illegal. Lying under oath is (That's what Clinton did), but as far as I know Trump has not lied under oath yet. Fear of that is why he is being advised not to talk to Mueller.
8
Forced by whom? He would have to be impeached, and congress is controlled by the GOP, whose members count on him to sign their bills, which so far he has done.
9
Extra-marital affairs are indeed not illegal (at least in most states). But when one of the two parties involved works very hard to leave no paper trail behind and clearly doesn't want the affair to be known, then that person becomes vulnerable to blackmail. And for a US president to be vulnerable to blackmail is, well, just not a very good thing. As we are going to witness in the coming days and months with Mueller on the case.
58
Interesting information.
What does it mean, except that all of Trump's women are bought, one way or another.
Not exactly surprising.
92
This hasn't been the first, nor will it be the last, of our president's extramarital affairs to come to light. Let's not forget that there are also almost two dozen women who have claimed he has sexually assaulted or harassed them.
This White House gives no credence to women's voice's because if it did, the president would have much to answer for.
60
In January of 2016, two long years ago, he said it himself: "I could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and..."
These smokescreen sagas consolidate his power while deflecting attention from the more serious issues close at hand.
27
Too bad for Trump we can juggle a hundred reality shows and still take out the garbage.
1
I guess it was a frosty endeavor even getting Melania and DJT onto AF1 today for the trek to Florida.
I do feel for Melania ... and their kid. I hope her pre-nup is favorable and gives her some leverage, should she choose to use it, in cases of personal & public humilation such as this.
54
I don’t feel sorry for her. She knew what she was getting when she married him. I do feel sorry for her son. If she wants to be a good mother, she should divorce Trump.
43
If Hillary had really wanted to be president on her own, she should have divorced Bill... who was probably too cheap to ever give any of the women he had affairs or other with anything more than what flowers and champagne.
At least Trump's bed partners come away with some real dough.
I do not feel for Melanie one little bit. As her philandering husband said to the army widow, she knew what she was signing up for: she gets access to his money; he has a trophy wife and can have whatever sordid sex he wants on the side.
FLOTUS’s frozen look is because she’s lost in calculations—how much more humiliation is worth how much Trump money?
According to The New Yorker story, Trump was also "involved" with Stormy Daniels at exactly the same time and not practicing safe sex. Absolutely staggering to a woman who thought she had seen it all.
My mother's youngest sister's best friend (whew!) was John Kennedy's paramour when he won the 1960 Presidential election. Back in the days where print ruled, my family knew long before the average American family who had won the '60 election. I've been privy to knowledge of presidential 'indiscretions' since childhood but even I am simply astounded.
18
Doubtful.
Trump is a well-documented germaphobe, and JFK was riddled with STDs. Your aunt kept interesting company.
1
Melania should become a country music song writer. She has plenty of material to work with!
53
As I read her comments, she has come to the conclusion that $150,000 for a non-disclosure agreement with a sitting President is too low and regrets not holding out for more. But who could have imagined Donald J. Trump as President of the United States of America?
26
“I’m totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind. Everyone knows that, and it almost wouldn’t even have to be said.” (Donald Trump, 14 February 2018)
Cheating (serially) on one's wife is one of the starkest forms of domestic violence.
Period. Full stop.
NOT my president
101
I think your statement minimizes what it means to live in constant fear for your life. Marriage is, legally speaking, a contract, so infidelity is a breach of contract. Getting pummeled by your spouse is a crime, and sometimes deadly. Domestic violence affects your psyche, your body, your sense of self-worth. Infidelity is contemptible, but it is not domestic violence.
16
There might be cases of cheating that could be considered domestic violence or that might be part of a larger pattern of domestic violence. But unequivocally equating cheating (serial or otherwise) with domestic violence is a dangerous oversimplification of marriage. More importantly, it trivializes the experiences of survivors of physical and emotional domestic violence.
11
I didn't read the post as minimizing abuse as abuse can be defined as physical/psychological, or it can be psychological but not including physical violence. A spouse being publicly and privately humiliated over and over by a cheating spouse is abusive behavior, especially if/when the cheating party knows that they're causing psychological pain to their spouse.
2
Make America Monogamous Again ??
39
It never was. the figure for extra-marital activity are like 60 percent woment, 70 percent men.
That salacious, dossier account of Trump cavorting in a Moscow hotel room with some Russian ladies keeps moving from the realm of "Fake News" into that of "Plausible Fact". There must be "binders and binders" of yet undisclosed women lurking in Trumpland, as Mitt Romney might remark.
76
And if anyone is in possession of those 'binders and binders' of Trump's infidelities, I suspect it is Vladimir Putin. I suspect he's had a dossier on Trump for a long time, at least back to the first time he ever publicly entertained the idea of a presidential run, certainly back to before his first overtures to open Trump properties and businesses in Russia. However, I doubt it's Vlad's dossier of infidelities that has Trump running scared of him since infidelities don't seem to make any difference to his base and U.S. evangelical Christians.
Why no focus on the fact that she says he offered to pay her after sex?
27
At this point, one wonders how much Trump is paying Melania not to walk.
I hope she has good medical insurance.
50
Wasn't Melania herself a "paid" escort and that's how they met? It's possible this is what he holds over her head + their son. Sigh.
31
But who would ever argue that Trump should ever be awarded custody if they split?
3
He doesn’t have to pay her not to walk - she would get zip money, nada!
This man could never get the security clearances his staff needs. Talk about easy to blackmail, our commander in chief. Disgraceful.
75
Is Mike Pence allowed to read this article without holding his wife's hand?
The juxtaposition of Pence and his wife as Trump's VP couple is beyond bizarre.
Those Evangelical Christians and their twisted obsession with abortion is more about their desperate preservation of the waning white majority than about the termination of unwanted pregnancies. And that's why they support Trump.
The same Christians that also support the NRA that enables the guns used to slaughter first graders in their classrooms and fellow Christians while in church , people dancing in a club or teenagers coming to the end of their school day.
Our society is mentally ill.
173
Remember many of our founding fathers were religious crazies expelled from other countries for their weird views. We have a lot of their decendants.
1
I do hope the "racially insensitive and disrespectful comments" trump made will appear in print.
47
It is absolutely amazing that with each new revelation of moral turpitude, Donald Trump continues to be worshiped by his base. Is there such a phrase as hypocritical idolatry?
56
There is now because the need has arisen.
“I was so nervous! I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man,” Ms. McDougal wrote in the note about the encounter.
Intelligence and charm? Polite? Uh, she can't possibly be talking about Trump
39
Melania has got to have Laura Wasser on speed dial by now.
11
No wonder the man never had time to read a book!
43
I don't think sleeping with Donald Trump is something I would brag about.
89
So I think we've pretty well established that Trump's a cheater. Wonder if he's cheating on the U.S. with Russia?
93
According to Bannon in Michael Wolff's new book, Fire & Fury, the campaign had to pay off over a 100 women who Trump had acted inappropriately with. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
56
“I was so nervous! I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man,” Ms. McDougal wrote in the note about the encounter. “We talked for a couple hours – then, it was ‘ON’! We got naked + had sex.”
I wish she had elaborated more on why she was drawn to his intelligence because Trump can’t even speak in complete sentences most of the time. Judging by her note, I’d say they were a perfect match.
52
“Thou shalt not commit adultery” - it’s estimated fifty percent of married men commit adultery - Trump supporters? A family tragedy - a man who has no control.
9
Hahahahahahahahahahaah. No one in the grips of the Trumpster machine wants to believe this little sordid tale (as well as the other numerous ones), but they all buy the stupid nonsense about Hillary. Evidently even $150K wouldn't shut her up, good for her. There is something evil afoot here. The pussy grabber is coming for you all. I'm changing my party affiliation to Democrat now.
36
Welcome to sanity. Fair warning: it’s exhausting living in reality while being inundated with nonsense 24/7. Highly worth it!
4
“I can have sex with with three women on Fifth Avenue in broad daylight and I’d still be president .”
Snopes says this is TRUE.
24
"I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man..."
Dumb and dumber. Has to be one of the best jokes of the year to date.
Truly deplorable.
28
Maybe the evangelicals and Playboy could do a magazine on Trump’s ethical life. They could call it Repent House.
33
Need we put up with this man?
Can we not be rid of him?
Any other president--stuff like this would have blown him out of the water. He'd have been finished. Kaput.
But USS Donald Trump--the original Love Boat--sails on and on.
Amid rough seas of public shame--public opprobrium--public infamy.
The crew--one by one--being unceremoniously jettisoned or sneaking off at at the nearest port. The captain--scowling but imperturbable--standing at the wheel. Barking imprecations--maledictions--confused and contradictory orders.
I ask you. Can we do NOTHING?
Might some little mutiny be arranged?
Somehow?
Ideas, anyone?
35
It does seem we are way beyond a panic state. I imagine this is what a never ending bad acid trip feels like.
4
There will be no mutiny because there is no will to mutiny as long as the president holds firm on DACA and immigration.
This is worse than a "bad acid trip". There is no end in sight. With a bad trip there are usually friends nearby reassuring you that all the horrible visions and thoughts you are having are temporary...
Instead, we live in a world where millions of our neighbors are OK with this sicko being the leader of the free world, millions of our neighbors who think slaughtering kids in school with military weapons should not be prevented by simple measures like most other countires have employed.
No, this is much worse than any drug induced "trip"....
You can tell how smart she must be; she was "into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man..."
15
Intelligent, charming and polite? Couldn't have been Trump
15
please. for the love of god and country, will someone just get to the dark and dirty secret that WILL get the creep out of office??
57
Yes, Marie.... The Moscow hotel videotape of his antics is scheduled on Netflix for early summer, when most TV series are in repeats.
How much will it take to make the First Lady snap? She'd likely get a pardon.
34
i dont really care how many women trump had sex with while married. what i find amusing is thinking about how many mulligans the evangelicals are having to give this guy.
44
Regular media covered up for Bill, Tabloid media covered up for Don; the next guy to be President will be covered up by Men's magazines?
5
Trump & the Republicans: the party of family values!
45
Family values...when it refers to someone else's family and their 'morals'. How often do they want to regulate behavior that they're actually involved with behind closed doors.
Does this newly revealed affair Trump had with a former Playboy model while he was married to Melania require Evangelicals to bestow upon Trump yet another "mulligan"? Or does their first mulligan given to him for the Stormy Daniels affair still have some warranty mileage left on it.?
18
The president has a perpetual "mulligan" as long as he fights for ordinary americans and against the mainstream press and Washington establishment.
The "yich" quotient is really starting to pile up. I thought it was high enough at election time, but I was wrong. I'm thinking a few more sex scandals, security scandals, and a few more indictments, and a handful of Republicans might be ready to distance themselves from him a month or two before the 2018 election. Then again, we might be stuck with him forever. Certainly the stench of Trump and his henchmen Ryan and McConnell, will be with us for an even longer time.
16
Have a nice weekend, Melania.
28
I hereby nominate Mike Pence as "Vice-Chaperone". He seems well-suited for the job.
16
What do you think Trump and Pence talk about when they're alone together?
“I was so nervous! I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man,” LOL -- I needed a laugh. I used to wonder how any woman could even consider having sex with Donald Trump. But he has his equals out there, all right. For the rest of us, it would take heavy drugs, and a hazmat suit.
38
I really feel sympathy for Melania. First Lady to a Whoremonger in full public view is not what she counted on. Actually, she's the classiest thing about this Presidency, and I'll miss her after he's removed from office.
12
For Heaven's Sake! Do you not understand hat this "marriage" is a charade? She has her trysts as well, but no one wants to look there because djt is such a circus act that we can't avert our gaze. Never forget that she is one of his primary enablers. She knows enough to bring it all down if she weren't either terrified of him (possibly) or just as much a grifter as he is (probably).
1
And another bites the dust.
This one broke up a seven-month affair with the then-married Don the Con because of his "racially insensitive and disrespectful remarks". Hmmm...like "there are good people on both sides", his reference to those delightful folks among the neo-nazi and white nationalist protest?
Oh, and gee, the publisher of the National Enquirer bought the exclusivity for salacious stories about Trump so that he could "gain leverage". Hmmm...isn't there an aspect in the FBI White House background check about not being susceptible to blackmail? Maybe the publisher bought the stories for Putin and decided to do a little strong-arming on the side!
11
Trump marries Melania in 2005. By 2006 he's sleeping with McDougal. And yet the Evangelicals regard him as some kind of family values messiah. It's complete and utter insanity.
What on Earth is going on in America?
55
Can’t forget Stormie too, same year.
8
"... intelligence + charm."? I think, "dumb as a brick", as already been used.
13
Laughable. True, but laughable.
6
Man, this guy is worse than Bill Clinton.
14
Adultery. Check.
Stealing. Check.
Bearing false witness. Check.
Worshiping graven images. Check.
Disrespecting the Sabbath. Check.
Covetous behavior. Check.
Profanity. Check.
Well, at least he hasn't been proven, yet, to be a murderer and apparently still loves his dad.
I am patiently waiting for Jerry Falwell, Jr., to figure out a way to spin this on behalf of the world's greatest student of Two Corinithians.
31
This is an attractive woman. Whatever possessed her to have sex with Donald Trump? He is a disgusting slob.
38
I'd love to hear what Melania has to say about all this.
17
Hope she has regular check-ups with her doctor. Yuk. I cannot even imagine staying married to a person who is sexually active with others. Then to know he did this without using protection! No wonder she rarely smiles.
1
These serial, salacious breaches of trust are becoming tiresome: perhaps the several porn stars, playmates and New Yorkers who HAVEN'T had extramarital extracurriculars with the libertine prez could step forward ... so we can all move on to other things?
9
Trump is living American dream-money. power
and sex. He has it all.
6
There are no doubt plenty of men who think more highly of Trump because of this.
1
He can have all the porn stars he wants. Just give us reasonable immigration laws, fiscal responsibility, diplomacy, affordable health insurance, an ethical and knowledgable cabinet, and first and foremost, gun control.
26
While this story matters, I'm disappointed it pushed another scandal off the front pages this week. David Shulkin, Secretary of Veterans' Affairs, misused travel funds, vacationing in Europe with his wife. Another staffer, Ms. Wright Simpson, falsified records to hide it. They should have been out of a job Wednesday, when the Inspector General's report was made public. Instead, they had the good fortune of being scandal number 4, midweek in the Trump administration. Sandwiched between a lawyer's payoff to a porn star and an affair with a Playboy bunny.
37
Considering the first lady's background in the visual arts, it's not surprising the trumpster's choice of ladies.
7
How any self-respecting woman could even think about having an affair with Trump, let alone actually have one, is beyond me. The though of crawling into bed with that vile narcissistic is enough to make my stomach turn. Obviously she must possess the same undesirable qualities as him. Disgusting.
34
Come on, Melania. File for divorce. And when the marriage is dissolved, write a book.
33
I suspect any divorce settlement will come with a strongly spelled out NDA to keep her from spilling the beans. I suspect every divorce settlement he's ever made came with a strong NDA regarding what they can say or write about him.
Dream on. She's getting as much as she's giving you can be sure.
She would make a ton of money for sure.
What do you expect of a woman who poses nude for Playboy, knowingly sleeps,with a married man, and takes money for the story. She's no victim. In fact, she's a predator. Not excusing Mr. Trump, but this woman is a tramp.
10
The President who behaves this way, as a habit, opens himself up to blackmail. That imperils our government.
The idea that her behavior was worse?
Ridiculous.
18
McDougal did nothing more than Melania did. So Ms trump is no better than Ms McDougal. She should have gone through with the divorce while still in NY and not made the move to DC regardless of how much extra money she extorted to stay for optics.
8
Well, that may be how it went down, but what's that say about our president and his ability to be honest with us or his family. Not exactly material to hold up to your kids to emulate. Maybe yours, but not mine.
19
These women are familiar with video systems. Trump should be quaking in his golf shoes that such videos don't exist! Wait, I take it back--even XXX videos of him in the act wouldn't shake the devotion of his enablers--including the religious right. Of course such videos of him without his expensive clothes would be hard to watch --- ich!
19
Can we please change the phrase “evangelical Christians” to what it should be: “evangelical hypocrites.” Thank you.
50
Too bad for her. She got 150,000 dollars.
Once he is impeached, Melania will file for divorce and get millions.
13
What was that that Melania Trump said in her plagarized speech about her "wonderful" husband? I just wonder if she plans to "stand by her man" or if she's more worried about the golden toilets?
12
Evangelicals! To the ramparts! Your idol is under fire!
20
NYTimes: "Alleged affair." Oh, please. Did your Legal Department vet that title? Are you really that spooked to report the facts? There's a difference - not a distinction - between carefulness and cowardice.
15
I have a sneaking hunch that the next democrat in the White House will not be "100% pure". Similar to Obama, the radical left Underground was roaming around when he was just a six year old kid, but it did not stop the arch conservatives from smearing him for his association with them, which took place about forty years later. Likewise, the next president probably "got some" with his first girlfriend when he was only 15, he might have cut a few classes, and even gotten a speeding ticket. But GOP Congress will get "enraged" and start a bunch of investigations to get to the bottom of it, because the American people need to know. I remember when they jumped all over Jimmy Carter because he seemed to be distracted over his peanut farm even though he was in the White House, and required to be disengaged. And we know about the the Clintons and their private lives were thoroughly surrounded by magnifying glasses, and flash lights by all of these pushy Republicans. Everything from Christmas cards and travel agents to Uranium One. But Donald Trump, oh heck No!!!!!!!!!!!! If we would never investigate God, then why are we investigating Trump who as everyone knows is higher up than God.
11
Any person who believes Trump's denials is a fool. This man is a serial liar who will say anything to escape culpability for his own actions. He is a disgusting womanizer who has zero respect for ANY women (his family members included). No one gives 6 figure payouts to bury lies; it just doesn't happen. He has probably cheated so many times that he doesn't actually remember most of them, allowing him some sense of deniability when these women come forward. Women are just another commodity to Trump - have sex and toss them aside (or impregnate and then show off his trophy until he gets bored). I can't think of a more pathetic excuse for a man - a man who also happens to be our President.
30
So, Trump has illicit affairs here and there while he is married and then has a friend named "David Pecker" clean up the mess? Is this for real?
I don't but there are times I feel like I'm listening to the first half of a very bawdy barroom joke.
19
You are but the bigger joke is the state of the nation these days which is why the president is having the last laugh. His base knows the punchline and is down with the results and pleased when they continue. Build that wall!
Hey Trump, just think of it. If you step down now, you could have all the secret affairs you want. You know you hate being President and we hate that you are President.
38
"...I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man... We got naked + had sex."
WHAT??? WHY?? Could it be that Trump is actually behind the scenes paying these women to say these things? The old I'm the best... no woman has ever had a man better than me!
8
AMI and David Whose Name Does Not Pass Language Moderation, publisher of the National Enquirer and owner of American Media Inc. is a professional blackmailer shielded by the 1st Amendment. He has worked in close consort and conspired for years to kill stories on behalf of "friends" like Trump, who are rapists and serial abusers.
Russia and the FSB knew all this. They weaponized it, and have turned it against Trump, and our own congress. Why do you imagine the GOP can't bring itself to say a word against Russia or pursue a policy to punish them with any seriousness.
It's OK that Ronan Farrow are starting to out them. Plenty of other reporters tried before them and the Times wasn't interested. Glad they're changing their tune.
13
Can you believe that liberals are now pillorying a president for having had "sexual relations" with "that woman?" How very American.
4
So following precedent impeachment next correct?
2
she wrote, intelligence + charm + polite man, is she sure she is talking about Trump , l mean l am ok with charm and polite but INTELLIGENCE no way hose, she is wrong or was smoking those funny cig. can you believe this my friends , we are talking about the PRESIDENT OF USA, l just can not believe this, forget those 13 Russians please get this man and get rid if him
5
David Pecker??!! Really?
7
This all is just "Boy Talk"
9
I still find it hard to fathom that this many (translate: any) women would have sex with the likes of him.
32
I am sure that Trump’s wife Melania would like to deliver her own “State of the Union” address !!!
15
Wow, David Pecker, Chairman and CEO of American Media Inc (AMI),
"When in doubt ask yourself:
Will my actions have the appearance of impropriety?
Will my actions be questioned by my supervisor (if applicable), fellow employees, clients, family and the general public?
Am I trying to fool anyone, including myself, as to the propriety of my actions?"
The above was taken from
CODE OF ETHICS AND CORPORATE CONDUCT FOR THE PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND SENIOR FINANCIAL OFFICERS,
December 7, 2015
https://www.americanmediainc.com/sites/americanmediainc.com/files/fin_re...
8
With each salacious Trump affair, I'm reminded of the unholy marriage of Trump and his millions of evangelical Christian followers. Their collective credibility has been shattered; their moral high ground now receding beneath the depths of hell. This deal with the devil has left them with a stain they can never remove. Such a shame that everyone else has to suffer the consequences of what they have sown.
31
She sounds like such an empty headed floozy you have to wonder why she wants the story out at all. SMH.
4
Ok, so El Presidente has scored again. Why isn't the Right rising up in self-righteous indignation to reject an arrogant narcissist? Answer: he's opposed to abortion, gun control, taxes and for deporting people they don't like. You all don't get it. None of this makes any difference in the face of Trump's destruction of "socialism" (welfare, social security, unions, "Obamacare," welfare...). His policies are the fulfillment of Barry Goldwater, Pat Robertson, Ronald Reagan's promises. The evangelicals will make noises about how appalled they are, but just like the "thoughts and prayers" for the victims of the NRA's agenda, it means nothing. Or less than nothing since it is a guarantee that nothing will be done. All this stuff with porn stars is immaterial. And the Right knows it. But the "Left" doesn't.
21
Trump's sleaze is the gift that keeps on giving.
The people who would have known about Trump's frolics include, at a minimum, Trump's lawyers and accountants, a couple of hotel concierges, maids and security guards, Trump's personal bodyguards and chauffeurs, and probably even a few random taxi drivers and Uber-drivers, as well as a few casual witnesses who stumbled on a compromising scene accidentally.
My question for the 53 percent of the white women of America who voted for this sleaze ball: Still happy about your vote?
27
ZZZZzzzzzz... does this matter at this point? His base doesn't care; the GOP doesn't care. They have all the power, and they're all riding the Trump hairball.
If any of Trump low character matters or staff or behaviors matters, it'll show up in the upcoming elections.
Until then, can we focus on the systematic destruction of our environment (see Zinke & Pruitt), our judicial branch (See GOP undermining Mueller, discrediting the FBI, etc), the norms of what it is to be an honorable, or even semi-decent public servant (See Trump or Kelly or McConnell or Ryan or...).
If any of this matters to people, CHANGE IT! VOTE. This is not OK.
27
If he betrays his wife, the the closest person to him in the world, how can anyone else ever trust him.
20
Did we all join the Trump affair of the month club? There seems to be little doubt that the Russians could have black mail videos of this guy and that he is vulnerable to influence from threats to reveal information or else no one would have been writing such big checks.
.
18
Two bad stories for Trump today - this one and Mueller's indictments. This is the one that holds the mirror to the hypocrisy of the party of family values. Boy have they lost any high ground they thought they might have had.
18
I wonder if Stormy Daniels is annoyed that she shook Trump down for only $130,000 while Karen McDougal got $150,000 out of him. Maybe Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen will "spontaneously" decide to give Stormy another $20,000, just, you know, for the heck of it.
29
McDougal's agents took 1/2 of the payment...
6
I’m waiting for the next Democrat to reside in the WH (which hopefully will be soon) and for Republicans to get all sanctimonious again. Remember when they got all huffy over Mrs. Obama’s toned arms in a sleeveless dress?
33
I am just not ready for Sarah Sander's voice- on this.
21
Maybe she'll decide to take another vacation (or sick) day(s) early this next week. Of course, she is evangelical and up to now has shown no real moral disgust over his behavior so it may be just another day of defending him against the "fake news".
The party of family values.
20
Really ? Did this affair happen yesterday? No. Did unlucky people get killed by another gun toting man this week? Yes.
Men.
5
This is not a Karen McDougal story, rather is it a continuation of a Trump story that lends insight into the way he conducts his life. And, the way he conducts his life is the way he has conducted the presidency. I hope that my fellow Americans have had enough of him and his scandals which erupt at least once a week. Tiresome, draining, and disgusting.
16
Her parents must really be proud. So there’s that
7
It is sickening how so-called Christian conservatives can continue to stand behind this morally reprehensible President. I guess taking a stand (at least publicly) against abortion gives him a free pass in every other aspect of his life.
20
Frank Sinatra would be proud.
3
I heard that Donald Trump is going to be the next face on Mount Rushmore. Apparently Putin is paying for it.
6
I am very confused by the many people who are accusing the Evangelicals of hypocrisy for continuing to support Trump, despite his numerous adulterous affairs and the many ways in which he has revealed his salacious appetites. Yes, the Evangelicals are hypocrites, but they are also making a very clear political and moral calculation that makes a great deal of sense. For them, it is all about abortion. If Trump makes it more difficult for women to have abortions by stacking the US court system with radical right wing judges, then the Evangelicals are willing to hold their noses and continue to support him. There is not even any contest here; for them, abortion is murder. If looking the other way as Trump sleazes and fornicates his way through every porn star and Playboy bunny on the planet is the price they have to pay to prevent the "murder of the unborn", they will do it. Indeed, from this perspective, it is an easy trade-off. Lots of Democrats made a similar political calculation with Bill Clinton a couple of decades ago. Most people were disgusted by Clinton's numerous affairs; a number probably believed the stories of his sexual assaults on a couple of women. But, again, the politics of abortion - this time from the other direction - led to many feminists running interference for Clinton and selling out their own supposed values for the larger prize. The fact that political actors make uncomfortable compromises should not surprise anyone.
7
But when they do sell out their values, they should realize that they also sell their claim of moral authority.
17
Why would they have that realization? Aside from the usual human capacity to rationalize hypocrisy, they think that they are serving a higher good. I suspect they dislike what Trump is doing, and they will not go out and suddenly change their position on "fornication" but they won't have much difficulty justifying themselves. Beyond that, they can easily argue that Trump was a different man then (Ignoring all the current evidence to the contrary) and they are all about second chances. Indeed, I note that Karen McDougal has made the same argument about herself.
Between this one and the other one you gotta admire his taste, after all he could afford to treat them right with the money his lawyer was laundering for the Russians, it wasn't coming out of his pocket.
Way to go Trump people, keep believing in him.
22
Lying, cheating, adultery. So important to Republicans when it was Bill Clinton. Now, not so much. Just like the national debt, I guess.
84
He is allowed to have an affair but let’s call out the evangelicals and southern baptists who hold him up as one of their paradigms of Christian manhood, while in the same breath casting aspersions on so many good and decent people. Will this change any of their minds? I doubt it.
31
Remember, when he says he's sorry, God forgives him and restores him to purity.
Some people will do anything for money.
7
I guess this is unsurprising news regarding Mr. Trump. The tape with Billy Bush made it clear that Mr. Trump objectifies women and attaches no meaning to his marital vows. But if this doesn't expose the hypocritical self-righteousness of the Christian right, I don't know what will.
They talk down to African Americans in the inner city and call them lazy, uneducated, violent burdens on society. Meanwhile, they collect welfare checks, abuse prescription opiates, and their state governments collect huge subsidies from the federal government. They proudly proclaim their religious fervor and their ethical principles. Meanwhile, they vote for men who prey on teenage girls and serial con-artists and philanders.
Let's be clear: all these people care about is having access to guns, preventing women from obtaining ANY method of birth control, and stopping the spread and acceptance of homosexuality. And of course, money. They, like their televangelist preachers, believe that someone who is rich is inherently superior morally and intellectually than someone who is not. It doesn't matter that Trump started life halfway home from third base, nor does it matter that he lies, cheats, steals and refuses to read a book. He is rich, and that makes him the American Messiah.
43
I can just hear the Evangelical hypocrites, who are saying and doing nothing on this man's immoral, deceitful behavior, getting their talking points ready for when the next Democratic president gets into office. 'Two wrongs don't make a right'...'We were blindsided by this behavior'...'He's never admitted to anything wrong'. Yet, they through their media surrogate, Fox news, will pounce on any perceived misstep by a Democrat.
Look how they disrespected President Obama for eight years - we should all be so blessed to have another President like him.
30
Whenever I find myself in any situation, no matter how totally innocent and unimpeachable, I always pull out an NDA and make sure it's signed and notarized before moving on to my next totally innocent and unimpeachable series of acts.
27
Glad the story is now out. The cumulative impact of Trump's sleazy Harvey-Weinstein-like tactics just illustrate just how rotten this man is to the core. This is not just some story about a discreet affair, but reflects a life-long pattern of bad behavior, except now as President of the United States, the stakes are a lot higher.
22
This is the reason people want to be rich, you can live by another set of rules.
5
Staying at the top of the Conservative radio playlist for the 53rd week: Stand By Your Man.
16
Unlike Bill Clinton, there is no allegation by either of the women who had alleged affairs with Trump that there was any coercion.
9
Oh well, then, so, no problem!!
6
Ok, well that’s what matters, then.
2
What do you call these court cases by women who brought charges of his unwanted advances/assaults? And when was Clinton convicted of the same? You need to obtain your info from credible sources.
10
Once again: Imagine if this were Obama instead Trump. Then this story would be front-page, above-the-fold news with a two-inch-high headline. Clinton was impeached for less than this. Where is the media circus? Where is the outrage? Where are the politicians of the opposition party demanding his head on a platter? Trump seems to be made of Teflon. Nothing sticks.
29
Clinton was impeached for perjury and having an affair with a subordinate. Trump did neither.
What an upstanding, moral, excellent example for our Children. Melania, dear, one word: patience. HE will moving out, eventually. And NOT to a Trump " luxury " property. To a non-fabulous Federal Facility. Can I get an Amen ????? Thanks, GOP. November.
24
The leader of one of the religious right groups said that Trump should be allowed a pass for the Stormy Daniels incident like a golfer is given a pass. What sport willhe use to give Trump a pass for this second incident?
13
All these women were paid to shut them up which is an "in kind" payment done on Trump's behalf and in violation of FEC regulations. They epitomize illegal campaign contributions.
10
"I was into his intelligence + charm." She isn't a very good judge of character.
20
What is the attraction of Trump for these young women? In just a few moments one can correctly apprise him of being morally, intellectually and yes, physically repugnant. And surely his reputation of breaching various laws would give one pause. Fame so easily turns into infamous and unfortunately for some it has to be learned at personal jeopardy the added prefix can comprise a wealth of harm for an innocent.
6
Haven’t you heard of attraction to power and advantage? The man can be ugly as sin — inside and out — think Trump, Weinstein, and legions of other powerful men. It’s very simple: In a society where women have little real power among men, you’ll often find them attached to the most unattractive, undesirable, and disgusting powerful men out there. Melania Trump is an excellent case in point.
4
No doubt the evangelicals will tell themselves it's all okay, because since the affair Trump has found Jesus.
17
Nope, Trump fans tell themselves its all okay because the president is holding firm on immigration and DACA. Jesus has nothing to do with it.
6
To me, the most disturbing part about THIS affair is that she called it off, in part, because of "racially insensitive and disrespectful comments Mr. Trump had made." How much evidence do we need to know the soul of this soulless president?
16
Trump is now down in Florida enjoying the warm breezes and the rustling of the palm trees. He thought about this for two minutes before his plane landed. And then he laughed. He's still laughing. He thinks he can stop Mueller. He thinks he can get away with anything. He may be right.
12
I remember when Nelson Rockefeller could not become POTUS because of his affair with Margaretta Murphy. How times have changed.
19
"Intelligence + charm". That's code for "money".
29
One of the best things that could come of this is that Melania finally gets the courage to file for divorce, which I think would do much for the empowerment of women generally. Do the right thing now, Melania, while we still have some respect and sympathy for you.
22
He has to have a really tough prenup where she wouldn't get much. Also probably signed a non disclosure for the marriage.
1
Yeah, that's probably true, but the divorce itself would say plenty.
He might still be alright with all-right Christian subset. It would be something like, "Yes, but never on Sunday."
5
she was into his intelligence and charm. he was so polite.
he was cheating on his wife. i'm sure his money had nothing to do with it.
11
And inured Americans stood up:
In one well-rehearsed group move,
they shrugged.
2
I thought Trump was a germophobe? My dear, sweet husband will never be rich but he is smart, he is interested in the world around him, he immediately says domestic violence and racism is wrong, he treats everyone with respect and dignity, he offers his hand to me as I exit the bus, and he is faithful. What lonely lives these three Trumps live.
28
There is no bottom to the fetid swamp of the Right. They will sacrifice every value they say they defend, betray every belief, contradict every lesson. Their purpose now is just hypocrisy itself.
54
I read an article earlier today about the death of George Washington, one of my heroes, and learned what a particularly long and painful death he suffered, mostly due to the medical treatments he received. Martha would not leave his side, although he urged her to rest. The country went into deep mourning when he died.
Today the country is once again in deep mourning, this time after the sad murder of school children. I couldn't be more struck by the contrast in presidential character, between then and now. Or more sad.
25
Melania stands behind her man........well behind.
1
Just imagine the stakes when Trump has allowed himself open to Russian blackmail. 130,000, 150,000 dollars would not even be peanuts!
18
Another Donald Trump Affair, another payoff. cheating on his spouse (s) whats new. We all knew Trump's morals are mired in the cesspool. His spouses certainly knew the score but also knew the payoff. what I find disturbing are the crude remarks he made about Ivanka, and saying Stormy Daniels reminded him of her. Creepy.
25
More evidence of how corrupt and sleazy Trump is. He has a long term extramarital affair with a Playmate, then gets a publisher friend of his to buy her 'confession' so he can help Trump get elected by burying it.
Drain the swamp indeed.
34
fast and furious. I had previously only thought about the "burying it" part. Their response here emphasizes the other part of a salacious story about the president. Anyone in on the story, e.g. Cohen or Pecker, also has serious blackmail pressure on the president. I am sure that the FBI would never give Trump a clearance, given his vulnerability to blackmail. Maybe this is what Putin holds over him. This is way more juicy than beating multiple wives.
2
What more will it take for the religious conservatives to own up to the Faustian bargain they have made?
42
They will never here of this Trump affair because they do not read the NYT and Fox News will not report it.
4
This is all swell but I've got an indictment to read.
41
I don't quite get why women who had affairs with Mr. Trump are being paid to keep quiet. He has bragged about such things. If the Access Hollywood tape didn't drop his support why would a consensual affair? And certainly not enough for actual blackmail. Even the Russian news isn't moving his base so why would cheating on his wife, that was made public during the first divorce. Cheating on his third wife is hardly news.
22
The concern of an adulterous affair of a government official is that he (or she) may become vulnerable to blackmail.
This obviously for Trump is not a concern. Trump's reaction, if honest, would be: "Adultery? Tell me something I don't know. Oh, I can tell you stories ..."
He is a sleaze, but we knew that when we (or they, rather) elected him.
As for Ms. McDougal: She sold the story to a newspaper, and got good money. What does she expect?
Stop crying everyone. The real important thing is that Trump is torpedoing anything Congress might be able to do, for instance get a deal for the dreamers. Where is that headline?
16
Catch and kill of a news story for leverage is just another way of saying subject to blackmail.
Why does Trump have a security clearance? That’s the question here.
35
Perhaps Trump is right. The FBI is corrupt, or at least gutless.
If ever there was a man, and a White House, unfit to see classified documents, this is obviously it.
We really ought to demand for an explanation. Either that, or just go on ahead and declassify everything so we can all join the parrty.
Would anyone be surprised to discover that Trump paid for these trysts out of his charities? I would be awfully disappointed in him if he didn't.
13
What is it about the American presidency and extra - marital affairs; e.g. Trump, Clinton, JFK, FDR?
5
Also LBJ and Warren G. Harding
She's adorable. ( well, they're adorable).
I've got some spare cash - how do I get in touch with her?
6
It would be interesting to learn what number of women have signed confidentiality agreements with our Dear Leader. I’m thinking it must be in the triple digits.
13
Everyone is saying blackmail...but truly, who's surprised and outraged. Certainly not the Republicans. It's ho-hum. Who cares.
To blackmail you have to be able to hold the victims feet to the fire. Trump seems to have not teflon, but asbestos feet.
10
Unbelievable!! How does this man sleep at night knowing he has hurt so many people and lied so much!! What crooked, hateful secrets he holds!
17
Trump distinctly remembers forgetting? So many trysts that he cannot recall!
4
As with each of these revelations, the only possible reason that Trump isn't held to a higher standard by his supporters is that he is white and male and isn't afraid to tout his "superiority."
13
Yes. I had a male co-worker shout at me during a meeting " I have superiority over you!" He meant seniority but is so inarticulate, he used the wrong term. And he had neither seniority or superiority "over me".
7
It is a measure of how completely riddled with base character defects Trump is that this piece of news, rather than causing outrage, now simply makes us shrug and treat it as business as usual. Trump would put almost any debauched leader in modern history to shame; one would have to go back to the time of the Romans to find such morally bankrupt, self-centered and capricious men.
22
When I was a child, the President of the United States was something to aspire to be. It required hard work, respect in humanity/country, and a belief that one person can make the world a better place. Now, the presidency is a complete embarrassment and a blatant symbol of corruption. I am mortified. Sad.
30
Mr. Family Values. Mr. Make America Great Again. The GOP should be ashamed.
20
This presumes first that anyone cares whether, when, or how many affairs Trump may have had. And second whether it makes any difference to him. The answer to both is "no". I personally don't care one iota who sleeps with who or when as long as both are consenting. I do care, however, when elected officials or people in places of significant responsibility lie or purposely misdirect about their professional actions. Whether Trump sleeps around matters not a whit. But that he has engaged in lying in regards to policy issues, probably with regards to the Russia connection, and probably in his many odd business endeavors. And the same for members of Congress, state legislatures, etc. I don't ask for moral purity in private life. Just honesty in public actions.
9
Intelligence and charm? What am I missing?
18
Doesn't say much about the caliber of men she'd met before, does it?
4
Maybe intelligent in comparison with her....We all know what her "charm" was.
Maybe some of the hard core Tumpees and Trumpets, Donny's conservative base, ought to remember that their children are watching, and noting that their parents are perfectly willing to support a man to who is a total marriage fraud, and has zero respect for the 'promises' he made.
18
JFK did not exactly lead a life of sexual virtue. And his liaison with Judith Exner certainly made him a potential target of blackmail.
Not sure this is where we want to spend our limited cache of outrage.
8
JFK has been dead fifty four years.
2
Significance of this is how making people believe you are a billionaire lets you do whatever to people you want to do. Doesn't happen to all rich people but a lot of them.
Several sources have pointed to Cohen's language, "I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 ..." doesn't necessarily mean that he paid the $130K out of his own pocket. All it actually says is that he used his own money to "facilitate" the payment. Times reporting needs to get this straight.
6
Maybe we're all worrying about nothing. We're just assuming it's people with bad intentions that have the dirt on the Donald to blackmail him. Maybe, someone can blackmail him into doing something good! Melanie, are you listening? This is your chance. You could be a national hero! Put that dirty laundry to good use. Do it for your son. Do it for all of us!
5
I was so nervous! I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man.
One shudders to think of the men this poor woman was accustomed to dating.
17
Even worse, despite her low standard, he still managed to repel her with his "racially insensitive and disrespectful comments."
4
I don't know why people are surprised that evangelicals prefer Trump to Obama. After all look at Obama's personal life. In a loving marriage for over 20 years, both he and his wife have raise two well adjusted children. How utterly unchristian of him.
39
Trump's proclivities are no surprise or shock.
For me, what's shocking and remarkable - and the real story here - is that other humans would willingly sleep with him. He's physically disgusting, a combination of bizarre cosmetic work and cheeseburger flab. And no amount of hair magic or spray tanning will make him appealing.
14
Let's see...payoffs for infidelity indiscretions. How much do you think he paid Putin to rig the election? It seems to be the president's MO to pay for what he wants.
5
This new season of " The Presidential Apprentice " is a letdown. It's turning into a cross between " Playboy After Dark ", " The Bachelor ", and
" Elmer Gantry ". Only interesting in a tabloid style way. THIS critic prefers historical and political intrigue, and mystery. So, 1/2 Star, out of 5. Tacky, poor writing AND direction. Unrealistic situations, unsympathetic characters, and much too drawn-out. Will it NEVER end????
6
Fun with math. Might as well learn something while we read the Times.
$10,000,000,000 divided by $150,000 equals 66,666 with some pocket change left over. That's the number of affairs Trump could have if he never made another dime.
Let's see...66,666 divided by 365 = 182 years, 236 days that Trump can afford to cheat on Melania, every single day (with one day off every leap year to recuperate) before his money ran out.
2
I would think Melania is angered because that is really HER money - she made the same deal as the prostitutes, after all.
And how can spending time with prostitutes be called 'affairs'..That seems like a pretty huge softball. He paid them for sex. Affair? I don't think so.
9
I don't think that is true, e.g., Stormy Daniels is a porn actor/director, not a prostitute. She claims she was afraid DJT would offer to pay her.
They were paid for their silence, however.
Really? when is the last time you had an affair with someone who yau were afraid would offer to pay you? Pretty much says it all. Melania was paid to act the role of wife. She has been paid off in her own currency, and cash is definietly part of it. Not love. Lots of cash and properties. I can't see how she is any different from either of these two chippies..
1
Maybe it'd be more helpful if more ongoing coverage is given to Donald Trump's accusers/victims instead. The women who had consensual, adult relationships with him don't need any more minutes of fame to sell their stories/personal brands.
17
You miss the point, Tedji. It's called double standard.
Please, if a Democrat is engaged in such behavior, it's Katie bar the door on the aftermath.
If it's Trump?
Hey, boys will be boys.
The hypocrisy is beyond the pale.
4
Blackmail is only a thing if the person fears the consequence of having the information come out. So far, all the utterances and actions that would have destroyed any other campaign or administration have had little lasting impact. If religious conservatives are willing to give out "Mulligans" for Stormy, criticizing Gold Star families, "very good people on both sides", etc., what could be used for blackmail? Without personal shame or political condemnation, it is just one story after another.
23
People got very worked up about the security risk of a WH staff member because alleged past actions could have left him open to blackmail.
It seems that Portman's boss is a far greater blackmail risk (the article mentions the NE boss keeping stories under wraps as 'leverage', for example; Trump's lawyer doesn' deny paying another adult star hush money - and it's not yet clear whether the allegations of Trump being open to blackmail from the Russian state are baseless).
But he's not only still in the WH, but running the country and most of the world.
9
In fact, most of the rest of the world sees him as a clownish child, and they are conducting the adult business of the world without him. Especially China.
4
Doesn't this seems like a national security issue? How many more people have proof of a Trump affair that they are now holding over the President's head? What are they getting in exchange?
18
Trump's fixers paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels and $150,000 to Ms. McDougal for their silence. Is that the going rate for cleaning up after Trump? How many more such payoffs are out there?
25
Bannon says there are hundreds of these!
This payment to silence this woman should be considered a campaign donation to Trump since the publication of her story would have influenced the election. She didn't know what Trump's friend was doing. The FEC should investigate this.
23
Trump is always squealing "Fake news!" but he's good friends with the publisher of a scandal sheet. Go figure.
103
This scandal sheet has a long-standing history of publishing donald's own 'fake news:' ludicrous claims of sexual conquests which he would submit under an assumed name.
2
She thought Trump was intelligent, charming, and polite? Given such discernment it’s no surprise she’s a Republican. She sounds like a member of the Republican caucus in Congress.
256
I repeat my reply to John from Baldwin, NY:
Relative to her, he may have seemed intelligent. Playboy Bunnies are not hired for their intelligence.
2
She needed some way to rationalize sleeping with him after just meeting him. LOL (wince!).
2
To James Hamilton- This is not an ordinary trashy billionaire we're talking about. It's the President of the United States. A man who ought to have some moral standard to set in front of the nation. Alas, he has none.
THAT is newsworthy because it reflects on us as a nation , as a people, as moral human beings.
117
Shocking as well: the double standard the Republican party has practiced!
The leadership in the Senate and Contress is absolutely spineless and gutless. Shame on McConnell and Ryan!
Those Republicans who were so fast to condemn Democratic sinners: Shame!
Have they no standards?
10
De Nada - it was long before he ran for president.
What is it with Americans and their desire to destroy any man who “gets lucky.”
A wife can gain 100 lbs, max out the family credit cards, quit work to contemplate her navel, get drunk and crash the family car, barbecue the family pets, and gamble away the kids’ college funds ... and she’s a victim of something or someone - no problem.
But Donald the husband provides a luxurious lifestyle for his family, terrific education and opportunities for his children, never abuses them, and is by all accounts otherwise a good father and spouse, but on a few occasions “plays golf” on a “strange course” - and it’s proof he’s Satan.
I’ve never had the desire to shoot hoops on a different court myself - but folks relax - it’s just sex.
2
Every morning I have coffee with my husband in his office. He's vetting the news, the numbing same-old, for me, because I can't start my day with news anymore.
Every morning I ask,'Has there been a naked press conference'?
I truly believe, sadly, that that is the *only thing* everyone in this country would agree is beyond the pale.
And happily, I am not without hope that it might happen.
29
why should we see any of them naked?
We have a new Teflon president. So far, he has managed to survive every morally reprehensible revelation unscathed. Why is this? Are we like any parent who is worn out from multiple temper tantrums and bad behavior? Are we too tired to fight it anymore? Are we biding our time until he turns 18 (aka 2021), leaves home (the White House) for college, turn his bedroom into a TV room and store all his personal belongings on an high, unreachable shelf in the garage?
55
The people who have the power to make Donald Trump go away are (1) those who bankroll Republicans in Congress and (2) constituents whose representatives and senators are Republicans. The rest of us are bystanders.
8
even Teflon rubs off eventually. I hope Parkland is his undoing, He is incapable of empathy. We must stand up and shout for things to change --- and vote in Nov.
10
Whether the story is of an affair or a payoff or something else, the idea that a media company has paid to kill a story and, as a result, has leverage over the President is deeply troubling.
I am concerned that what we have here is just a glimmer of much more dangerous puppeteering going on out of Moscow. If Vladimir Putin has leverage on Trump, as he might, our country's security is in danger.
667
In today's media, pricey prostitutes morph into "models" and "actors", just like extra-marital lovers become "fiancees" despite remaining unmarried for years. Oldsters may recall that the infamous British hooker who brought down the Secretary of State for War (who had form; Profumo "dated" a German "model" in the 1930s who turned out, like Keeler, to be a spy). Keeler insisted, and still insists, she is a "model". Mind you, the line is very thinly drawn and very wavy between beauty pageants, pornography and other aspects of the sex trade, as is well demonstrated by Las Vegas and the unfolding stories about the current US president. It's interesting that both sexual partners recently linked to Trump explicitly deny receiving money from him for sexual services, just for keeping quiet about providing them. A lot of money . . . It's worth keeping in mind that in the Profumo case the issue wasn't a senior politician consorting with hookers, but the fact that he was deeply compromised, his sexual activity gave others leverage over him, and he was indiscrete with information sensitive to the government. Of course, we wouldn't know this if Profumo had a pet lawyer who raced about making payoffs to those in the know to keep quiet.
29
I don't believe Christine Keeler is able to insist anything these days. She died in 2017.
3
don't forget: one morphed into the First Lady
3
however... trump promised to buy her an apartment.. which never materialized.
I think it is scurrilous to claim that a fine publication like the National Enquirer would try to unduly influence Mr. Trump. This surely was an innocent attempt to befriend a man even then clearly destined to be President and make America great again. We should be falling on our knees and thanking this true blue American news organization for helping make Mr. Trump the man he is today. And while I'm at it God bless Ms. McDougal for her many kindnesses to our future president.
42
What is troubling about this story and others like this is the vacuum in which Trump operated. Where was our system of security and clearance checks before Trump became the Republican nomination. Who is it up to to check the background of the candidates. Yes, we can say that the Republican Party failed, but where else was the failure? If this man had had a highly hidden, but criminal record, would he have just glided in as a candidate. Who is responsible for clearance on any party's candidates? Could we get this solved so that we never have to go through this waste of time and travesty again.
54
Re: "...If this man had had a highly hidden, but criminal record, would he have just glided in as a candidate..." {Virginia Kast Hayward CA}
"If this man had had a highly hidden, but criminal record...?
It is widely alleged the primary reason Trump refuses to display his tax data, (his taxes are under 'eternal_audit', L.O.L.!), is because he IS a tax dodging, fraud_prone R.I.C.O. criminal!
The Trump_U_Fraud is another prime example...as is Trump's racist comments about the U.S. citizen judge, (of Meso_American heritage), sitting on the TWO class_actions, condensed, (from the reported 3,400) civil suits brought by Trump's unpaid contractors, etc.!
There is ALSO the issue of Trump using Russian / other foreign banks, because U.S. banks KNOW, BETTER than to grant him loans!
2
Is knowledge power?
I've reached the point where I no longer want to know about Trump's myriad infidelities. If nothing will change, the barrage only depresses me further. Each of these articles could be paired with information on what we can do to hold Trump accountable for his despicable behaviors. Until then, or until Congress decides to take these allegations seriously and hold answerable the individual who represents our country both domestically and abroad, I'd rather bury my head in the sand.
131
Each article should be paired with a story on how we can win back Congress and take back the presidency in 2020. What can we be FOR?
6
Like most of us, you're dealing with a sense of hopelessness and indignation fatigue. It's more contagious than this year's flu virus.
6
Donald Trump is amateur compared to Bill Clinton in this type of activity.
Does anyone now not believe that Putin has some tapes that might even embarrass Trump?
139
Putin may have some tapes, but it should be apparent by now that Trump is not embarrassed by his sexual misadventures.
37
Does anyone still believe that Trump is capable of being embarrassed?
9
Inasmuch as the man can be embarrassed...
4
Oh, to live in an adult country like France where the mistress and illegitimate daughter of a dead President can stand next to his widow at the funeral service and no one is scandalized. But we're still young as countries go, so perhaps there's still time to let go of our Puritanical pretenses and grow up.
15
I think that we as a people still believe that adults who do not keep their word (or marriage vow) are untrustworthy. It really does not matter if few or many people lie and cheat - the fault is still their and it is theirs.
7
"Adult country", "Puritanical pretenses", and "grow up"? You're kidding, right? So, having the emotional level of a five-year old and the morals of a barnyard is growing up and being an Adult? Wow! Here I thought this kind of behavior exhibited by the current President was considered being a gutter snipe, but then, I guess I'm still a child.
7
Danielle was 14 years old when Mitterand targeted (and then married) her. Pick up a biography, or read Danielle's damning account of their marriage. Nothing whatsoever for the US to aspire to...quite the opposite. The US is streets ahead of the French in gender equality.
3
What a shame, a little furniture shopping trip could have kept this under the covers (no pun intended).
3
It is not news that Donald Trump was unfaithful and he wasted his money trying to cover it up.
25
What is news, however, is how many others aided and abetted him in this.
6
Wasn't one of our presidents impeached for this?
50
No, as I understand it, he was impeached for lying to Congress about the affair. So far, there has not been same will (Republican Congress vs. Democratic President) as in the Clinton days. This Congress is happy to have 45 distracting people's attention as they trample on the people's rights.
8
a pre-presidential affair? hardly. Clinton's escapades with Monica were in the Oval Office during his presidency . . . .
Given what a publisher might pay for a tell-all, does it matter what's in the pre-nup? Go, Melania!
41
Trump continually judges people by their loyalty to him. Have you noticed how little loyalty he pays to anyone else, including his poor wife/wives?
77
Sex and money go together like a horse and carriage. The women get paid. Call the pay what you want. Melania will get paid too. She's being to quiet about all these escapades. I think she's holding out for more nasty stuff to come out. The more for her and her team of divorce lawyers.
The National Enquirer broke the news about v.p. candidate John Edwards's extramarital affair and made a fortune from it, yet holds this one in abeyance. Hm, what is the difference between the two?
110
Drip, drip, drip, drip. When will this nightmare be over?
52
Wonder how many "mulligans" Tony Perkins and the evangelicals will extend to their man. Was this before or after he was born again?...
47
I don't know if this happened or not, but JFK was know to have affairs when he was in the White House. Marin Luther King was a known womanizer and we all know about Bill Clinton. This seems to be selective outrage.
13
I don't remember that any of them bragged about sexually assaulting women.
38
True, but there is a major difference. JFK tried his best to keep it secret, and it was secret for many a decade. He wasn't proud of his transgressions and he certainly didn't boast about them on tape. The other difference is that, given the amount of money that changed hands to keep this quiet, the man in question knew full well that he was misbehaving, and used his influence to shut down the news. And if being unfaithful were the only sin committed by Senior Trump, it would be small potatoes. It's this AND all the rest that counts.
12
@ bp Some people say those three men do not currently have a campaign organization in place to run for President in 2020 including soliciting donations from US voters and holding "campaign rallies" he travels to on Air Force One.
Guess the "outrage" is not so selective when applied to active candidates for president who is the only one accused of affairs while married to the current First Lady, his third wife. Let the voters decide.
5
Is there anyone surprised to hear about this? Not even die-hard conservative Republicans, evangelicals or rabid radio talk show hosts will be surprised. Nor care, sadly. Just another day in topsy-turvy Trump World.
24
Teflon is the preferred attire in the age of Trump and Nunes, traitor to the agricultural working immigrant people of his voting district in California.
Tom
1
Note the trend: A friend of Trump buy's a model's silence about her affair with him. A friend (and personal attorney) of Trump pays a porn actress for her silence regarding an affair she had with him. Trump must be a real stand up guy if he has all these friends stepping up to pay huge sums of money to keep these women silent. A nickel bet says in the next few months another "bombshell" revelation about yet another sordid affair will surface - and the Evangelicals will give Trump yet another mulligan.
35
Re: "...A nickel bet says in the next few months another "bombshell" revelation about yet another sordid affair will surface - and the Evangelicals will give Trump yet another mulligan..."
...Next few months, or...next few...femptoseconds? {Femptosecond: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femtosecond}
Ugh. What DO these ladies tell their mothers or fathers? I'm having an affair with Mr. Ttump, the definition of "intelligence + charm"?
12
Wow, I really feel for her. She must have had truly terrible experiences with men if she thinks a person like Trump with his foul mouth, anywhere close to charming or intelligent.
6
No bigger threat to America's security exists than Donald Trump.
41
This line from McDougal's account makes me skeptical: “I was so nervous! I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man,” Ms. McDougal wrote in the note about the encounter.
Trump? Polite, charming and intelligent? That can't be the same guy currently in the White House....
28
That part I can believe, even the devil himself is polite, charming, and intelligent - when it suits him. trump can be all those things when it suits him, but he doesn't have to be all those things now. Why? "Because I won".
2
Trump's life is a moral cesspool, but he's not dumb. He can assume different styles as suits his narcissistic needs. For romancing a young woman, fake charm. For romancing the Republican base, bombast and lies. He knows his audience, if nothing else.
2
So Karen, what attracted you to billionaire Donald Trump?
18
Oh the life money can buy..
13
Is anyone else sick of all the winning we are doing?
57
I'm trying to put together the two known affairs at that time, Karen McDougal's and Stormy Daniels'. They both were in 2006. Barron Trump was born on March 20, 2006. Was Trump coordinating two separate affairs at the time of Melania's pregnancy and delivery? Toxic masculinity has again reared its ugly head.
34
This is what you get when a tabloid guy is made President; why worry about Russian interference, when one should be investigating the murky world of tabloid journalism.
15
I’ll say this much: Evangelists are gaining excellent experience in how to juggle. It’s just too bad it’s morals, ethics and hypocrisy instead of flaming chainsaws. But seriously, she thought Trump was intelligent and charming and that’s why she had sex with him for a year? Based on that alone, the story has to be fake. You had me going though.
13
And the Christian Evangelicals who voted in mass for Trump- do...not...care. "Those without sin...and all that stuff".
15
Of course, as expected, the evangelicals give him a second mulligan!
15
Let's see - JFK and Clinton had multiple affairs while serving as President, but it's awful that Trump has had them. Frankly, I think they're ALL scoundrels and can't imagine any self-respecting woman wanting to many any of them, or stay married to them. But let's quit acting like Trump is the first to have a bit of "candy" on the side, and pretty dumb candy at that. Oh - I forgot - the ALL were attracted to these men for their intellect and charm. Right.... How about money and power?
4
Donald Trump was selected as the most qualified candidate for the most important job in this country by the party of family values, the one that despises the entertainment industry because of its debased sexual morals. That's the difference for me.
4
There is no evidence nor suggestion of evidence that Clinton or JFK tried to pay off their lovers.
2
Your idea of "candy" is very close to my idea of trash.
Makes me yearn for the days of no-drama Obama.
52
Great Christian values. Is there any sense of integrity with this man?
12
LOL....She had nothing against adultery but was dead set against insensitive racial remarks...and she was Republican. Am I dreaming this?
32
Trump treats Melania just like he treats the United States. No surprises here.
34
Liberals are mistaken if they think this will hurt Trump. This type of story doesn't hurt him at all with his base. They think it's awesome he can have Playboy bunnies and porn stars. He's living their dreams and fantasies. He's even cooler than they thought! They would high five him if they could. This goes for evangelical men, whom we know say one thing in public but do something entirely different in the bedroom. It's the evangelical women that confuses me. This type of behavior is OK with them yet a committed, loving inter-racial marriage is not?
46
Well, at least Trump's dallies weren't in the White House, and they didn't ruin anyone named Monica.
4
We should probably just ask, "If you have slept with Donald Trump, please raise your hand", seems he can't keep it zipped, like others that find a little fame. Looks like he needs a Chasity belt while in office though.
10
A nice opportunity for the ever generous Michael Cohen to get involved.
14
I gather the Times has decided to stoop down into the mud to fight the "regime" by all means necessary, including the unscrupulous and the downright indignant ones. IN Rome do as Romans do, I guess, eh?
4
And how do you gather that? Is it muddy to report facts?
3
This is still Obama's fault.
19
I know we are all opposed to President Trump - this being NyTimes - but these stories about the President's affairs feel cheap and beneath the paper to me.
5
A president who can be blackmailed is a security threat. It is, indeed, newsworthy.
11
It's the payoffs to these women to keep them silent, not the affairs in themselves.
3
Wow. A porn star and a nude model? He needs both to cheat on his third wife?
Seriously, if someone paid me to write a novel about a total degenerate becoming President, I couldn't possibly make up something more sleazy than this.
He brags about habitually sexually assaulting women, barging into dressing rooms, his daughter's great body .... Not to mention the racketeering fraud, bankrupt businesses, stiffing contractors, racism, mocking a disabled reporter. He is a prologue and epilogue of vile and vice. You really couldn't make this stuff up.
1208
Donald and Melania, seperate bedrooms? Nahhhh, seperate residences
5
You say "You really couldn't make this stuff up."
You could, but no one would believe you.
5
Granted.
He's Silvio Berlusconi, but without the Italian accent.
Bunga bunga.
3
Two adults had consensual sexual relations over 10 years ago. This matter should only be a big deal because it can potentially be used for blackmail. However, the nullify the effects of any possible blackmail, Trump and other politicians who enjoyed sexual experiences in the past should just state:
"In the past, I have had consensual sexual relations with people who were not my wife/husband. As who I have had sex with and the details regarding these matters are private, I ask the press and public to respect my privacy."
When it comes to plumbers, I care about how they repair my plumbing and how much they charge to do this. I do not care who they copulate with.
When it comes to politicians, I care about how they govern the country, how they improve the lives of the people, and how they affect the future. I do not care who they copulate with.
Who Trump or other politician has sex with has no bearing on my life. However, taxes, infrastructure, health care, education, etc. are important issues that have an effect on my life, hence, I care about them.
8
Looks like you need this articulated slowly. Try to follow along: taxes, infrastructure, health care, education, etc., are all subject to decisions made by our elected officials. Our elected officials were elected in large part on their character, or on the character they purported to have, and on their voters' belief in that character. If they lied, then coming clean would be an admission that they lied; and assuming that their voters actually have any character of their own, the voters would be dismayed and angry. Hence the leverage that blackmailers have over the officials, a handy leverage indeed when it comes to the aforementioned policies, all of which can be quite lucrative for the interests holding the leverage.
Are we learning here? If an official has to decide between your interest and his reputation, then your interests are likely to come second. If defending his false reputation means handing your interests over to the people holding the leverage, you lose.
8
With Trump in office, the real-news NYT reporting the real stories makes the headlines resemble content one would normally see in the sensationalistic National Inquirer.
4
"...I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man... We got naked + had sex."
Bless her heart. She owes me lunch, though, because mine ended up all over my desk when I read that paragraph.
76
How is a reasonable person supposed to keep her schadenfreude under control with stories like this? First it was needing a Delaware LLC to pay off a porn star, and now ....
10
Why should this be news? Don the Con is a misogynist with a zipper problem. An adulterer is an adulterer. Melania, divorce the man and get the money. I hope you have a pre-nuptial agreement which penalizes one or the other for adultery.
57
What makes you think a serial adulterer like Trump would ever agree to a prenuptial that would penalize him for behavior he had every intention of continuing to engage in? Melania had no power to dictate the terms of the prenup: she was getting into bed with this sleaze for the money and the lifestyle, knowing full well he was a pig. She is getting exactly what she deserves: a loveless marriage to a disgusting individual with no legal recourse or financial leverage.
21
It's news because it speaks to the lack of character of Trump, who happens to be our president.
3
So the Enquirer's chairman and chief executive's name is David Pecker? How apropos for both the rag and the man.
112
We are all waiting to hear the Republican outrage, especially the sanctimonious evangelical outrage because everyone knows how much Republicans and evangelicals LOVE to lecture the entire world about morality. What's the matter kids, cat got your tongue?
165
Sanctimonious!?! (think: Mike Pence)
15
Re: "...What's the matter kids, cat got your tongue?" {Jason Shapiro Santa Fe , NM}
Precisely!
Before I forget: Where is the overtly, homophobic V.P.'s moral outrage, at this / these betrayals of the 'holy, marital_boudoir'? Will Pence promote legislation, such, that if someone refuses to serve Mr. Trump as a customer, out of 'religious' convictions, (re 'marital fidelity'), he, {Pence), will demand they be 'protected', vs. a refusal of service-related civil rights lawsuit, like he tried to do for homophobes in Indiana??
9
Hardly. We're just waiting for you folks to denounce JFK, RFK and WJC, all of whom were conducting multiple affairs while they held high office (unlike Mr. Trump). (crickets)
3
This all fits with the sense of being privileged and assuming that he is above the norms of human decency that Trump exudes. He has always gotten to do whatever he wanted, deny it, never admit anything, and able to have it "fixed" by others (David Pecker), or by his money (transferred somehow to Michael Cohen). When that fails, he calls stories about his transgressions "fake news" and continues to do more.
This type of behavior, honed by a lifetime of privilege, leads to what we have for a President: a pathological liar and narcissist who is more concerned with his interests (golf, making money, philandering, and winning/never loosing) than the welfare of the country he is supposed to lead.
A normal person would have some level of guilt and remorse about repeated long-term affairs while his wife was home with their young child, but a life of privilege and "getting away with anything he wants" has built someone who has little or no empathy for anyone. You can see this lack of feeling and empathy when he is forced to speak to the wife of a solder who died for his country or publicly about the death of 17 people in a mass shooting (which will continue due to his embrace of the NRA). He is uncomfortable at these times and it shows. He has no empathy for others.
We are in trouble as a country.
127
No wonder the first (3rd) lady didn't want her husband to run for president. She had to know this was coming.
138
If only this wasn't a story the same week as the Secretary for Veterans' Affairs was caught falsifying records showing he billed the government for his wife's travels and the President's personal lawyer (Cohen) admitted to paying off the porn star, and the White House was being scrutinized for multiple lies about a wife abusing staffer and yeah, another school shooting. Sorry Ms. McDougal, we haven't got time for a story about a Playboy bunny's affair with a President. And what's that? More Mueller indictments. Hope there's space left on the front page tomorrow.
105
Poor Melania! She should lawyer up and divorce him. Can you imagine how furious he would be if she was able to get a good portion of his money? With all the scandals swirling in Trump's head, and all the lies he has to keep straight, I fully expect him to have a nervous breakdown.
69
He's probably got her locked into a financial agreement, like Matt Lauer's wife in 2006...
8
You really think he has all the money he claims? Maybe if you don't count all the debt!
4
More than expect him to have a nervous breakdown - waiting for the psychotic break with the little reality he knows.
It is sad to say this but hope it happens soon.
For the benefit of We the People.
2
“I was so nervous! I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man,”
How touching, the same words Mike Pence used to describe Donald to his mom...
113
The obvious retort to this little 'situation' is that she is a high priced working girl. Why is she going public now? To make more money. She was exploited, she says. Who is exploiting who?
Ten years ago? It has nothing to do with Trump being elected.
10
Read the New Yorker article. After their first encounter he reportedly offered her money and she turned it down, saying that she did it because she liked him.
Meanwhile, this paragon of GOP values was carrying on other affairs simultaneously and paying for the women's silence, with his wife of two years and an infant child at home.
The issue here is not just the affair(s). It's the elaborate Trump team cover-up devised to prevent news of his philandering from influencing the election.
13
Agree. It is all about the character of a serial adulterer.
3
But she is taking the money now. Fail
It's unfortunate that the one time Drumpf was telling the truth was when he said during the Access Hollywood tape: "And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."
55
Would these women have had the same affairs with Trump if he wasn't rich? There's really not a lot of innocence to go around here in any of this.
20
"There's really not a lot of innocence to go around here in any of this." But that's not the point.
24
Actually it is the point. A lot of these people are just as dirty as Trump. A lot of pots calling kettle's black. That happened to Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky. Dems didn't want to press the matter, but Republicans did. Now the shoes on the other foot and Dems want Trump to resign and Republicans want him to stay. If there's going to be a morality code, then no one should be exempt.
2
If Trump was not rich, these women would not look at him. Nothing evil there. And if the women were not beautiful, young and fashionable, the men would not look at them.
it has nothing to do with innocence. Now, integrity is another issue.....
2
It seems likely that Trump could carry on with women outside his marriage in broad daylight and not lose one evangelical vote.
327
Or shoot someone on 5th Avenue.
12
It's not likely, it's certain. The Evangelicals can use The Bible to rationalize any behavior, no matter how reprehensible. They'll rationalize slavery, racism, sexism, homophobia, lying, and theft with it. All they want from Trump is to poison the judiciary for a generation with intellectual throwbacks. They ask only that he do their bidding. In return he'll get political cover for his crimes in and out of office. He really could shoot someone on Fifth with their support. They know it, and he knows it.
7
Several responders commented about the possibilities of Melania leaving Trump, or being intimidated against it. With each revelation, I think a First Family breakup becomes more likely. Melania has to feel this is not healthy for her son Barron (Donald couldn't care less) and likely wants to get him out of the fish bowl. Plus, do you think she wants the potential for 4 more years of this after 2020? I say she will refuse to participate in any re-election plans as Trump's wife, and may exit the scene sooner. And hopefully Trump exits as soon as he can.
34
I'd reckon that Melania is constrained by an extremely rigorous Pre-Nuptual agreement that translates as "Dump Trump and you get NOTHING, and maybe even lose custody."
4
I'm guessing that DT has minimal interest in son Barron, other than using his name as a pseudonym when offering up self-promotion to the NY tabloids. Only Ivanka seems capable of holding her father's attention/affection/whatever...
2
It's long past time that something be done about non-disclosure agreements and their use to cover up crimes and bad behavior. Such agreements have legitimate uses for business strategies (so competitors don't steal them) and technology (same reason), but bad behavior should not be so easily covered up.
I would also suggest a different standard for politicians, because we have a right to know. For a private citizen, criminal conduct should not be protected but anything else would be okay. For politicians, no conduct should be covered unless there's a legitimate business or technological (or law enforcement) reason.
23
I have to try to respect Evangelicals willingness to as I've seen written, "Give Trump a second chance - it's the Christian thing to do."
Well, o.k. but a third chance? a fourth, a tenth? a twentieth, a hundreth? Come on - some sinners don't change.
54
I think there has to be remorse and repentance for yet another chance. Good luck with that.
4
"I was into his intelligence." Yeah, and I can't tell you how turned on I am by the guy because "he tells it like it really is." As Trump and the Republican Party know better than all the rest of us combined, "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the America public." H.L. Menken
38
With all the news about the dozens of people in the white house who require a security clearance and can't get one, I had been wondering, "What about the president?" There's no background check on him. Obviously this president would never have gotten clearance, but why does the president get a free pass? The list of people with the ability to blackmail Trump must go on for pages.
1040
Yes, that's the whole concern about Russian influence: that they have compromising material on him that they will release if he doesn't do what they want him to do. The fact that he praises Putin and makes decisions favoring Russia while excoriating the rest of the world does not put this concern to rest.
39
It's an interesting comment cause I recall all the discussion about whether Hilary would have trouble getting clearance after the ridiculous email investigation.
9
I agree. And going forward it should be an absolute requirement that any one running for president release their taxes and all related financial information. My guess is had that been in place a whole range of improper financial links between Trump and Russia [and likely others] would have been revealed which would have prevented his election.
5
"“I was so nervous! I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man,” Ms. McDougal wrote in the note about the encounter."
Trump's lawyers a convincing line of defense against McDougal' story: She obviously is lying because there is no way that Trump possesses any of the above attributes.
111
Trump supporters just admire him more every time one of these stories come out. What a cool guy!
37
Our President continues to provide evidence that the Peter Principle is alive and well.
30
WHICH Peter principle????
5
Au contraire--peters have no principle. Case in point...
2
This affair, or another dozen, won't make any difference to the Republicans and Trump supporters! Doesn't matter to them.
69
And it shouldn't. What should matter is whether or not he's got Russian's in the white house stealing information or just handing it over to them. Private lives should've never became public but Republicans started this with the Ken Starr investigation.
3
I said a while back that the Trump voters would stand with him regardless of almost anything, except perhaps evidence of treason or new salacious sex scandals. We're still waiting for the chips to fall on coordinating with Russians to help win the election, but the sex stuff just keeps rolling in. When will the "base" be ready to jettison him?
16
The base wishes they too could have affairs and the money to pay off the women. Clearly they think of him as a mans man who keeps women in their place whether as participants in his affairs or as the wives. The evangelicals/deplorables are happy to cover up for this despicable person.
3
This revelation just makes him more popular with his base.
19
She is quoted as saying, "I was into his intelligence + charm." It's pretty obvious then that the guy couldn't have been Trump.
49
Well, 45 is lucky that he is not African-American b/c if he were, this would be an outrage and the end of his political career. Sending thoughts and prayers.
65
Is that really the last name of American Media's CEO?
14
"I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man."
Are you sure it's the same Donald Trump?
7
I am going to go out on a limb and conclude that for someone who admitted that she never understood the meaning of the agreement she signed that Donald may indeed come off as intelligent and charming.
4
If, according to AMI, the idea of paying $150,000 to Ms. McDougal for her story is "laughable,” I'm looking forward to AMI explaining why they DID pay $150,000 for the story. Inquiring minds would like to know.
15
I presume so the Story would NEVER be published. AMI could prevent that by owning it.
3
I hope Melania Trump has access to the NYT, WSJ, and New Yorker. She has a full reading list for the weekend. Maybe she should invite Ms. McDougal and Ms. Clifford to the WH for a "Tea Summit". Then again, maybe not.
Someday Barron Trump will get a big advance for a book about his youth.
17
This is the tip of the iceberg....
23
JFK, Bill Clinton and probably many more presidents had affairs.
Since we already know that Trump has had affairs, is this really news?
11
No. But it's a great way for the Democrats to alienate more voters. Never under-estimate the Democratic will to lose.
5
Yes, it is, because Trump nation especially the Evangelical Christians go on about being moral people. JFK's affairs weren't know at the time he was president (a lot of presidents had affairs). Bill Clinton never promoted himself as the 'morality president', and more importantly, unlike Trump, didn't claim the religious right as his base, he never pretended to be anything he was.
16
Yeah, they impeached Bill Clinton for his, remember???
2
It's probably because of the "racially insensitive and disrespectful comments Mr. Trump had made" that the evangelicals embrace him with such enthusiasm. The stories of Trump's bigotry and sexual escapades has no end. And the party of family values (joke) follows without condemnation or questioning. If this was a Democrat they would be besides themselves. What hypocrites.
57
Thank gawd that the Russians would never use information like this as leverage. Only Trump's "friends"...
What is so disturbing is that there is an extremely long trail of this type of behavior documented in numerous publications by this person and he still was elected President.
22
What does Melania think about Trump and this story? Is she another gold digger happy to ignore these insults. My guess is that she could care less about the story and is making millions by not divorcing Trump. Nevertheless, the IRS knows that Ms. McDougal has thousands of unearned, unreported income while she serviced Mr. Trump. Trump must have had a bag boy with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of $100 bills to cover her expenses. Pay for play or is it play for pay? Sounds a lot like the workings of an old profession.
13
terry brady: Even if her income was 'unreported', it certainly was not 'unearned'.
8
So how is that swamp draining going, Mr. President?
31
"The New Yorker and Ronan Farrow’s suggestion ... is laughable...”
A trained interrogator would instantly recognize the classic deflection. Laughable? But not a denial.
19
What's lost in all this is the fact that these ladies knowingly slept with a married man and decided to come out later and make Trump to be a villain. Ladies, you're just as bad as him, wreaking homes and jeopardizing marriages for money and sex with an old man. Monica Lewinsky wasn't praised, why should this lady or Stormy Daniels be given a mouthpiece and money?
12
"wreaking homes and jeopardizing marriages" ?
.........no fear of that with Donald Trump.
7
Who knows? Maybe they regret being bought off for so little. This info would have caused a huge scandal if it came out before the election and might have ended Trump's campaign. Both women should have held out for far more than the chump change they received.
3
@someone: Trump is responsible for the wreaking. It's his marriage.
3
It’s hard to believe that any amount of money would make it worthwhile to have sexual relations with this man.
139
You'll have to ask Ivana, Marla, Melania, and... all the rest of them.
@HG: Whatever amount Melania gets in the divorce settlement won't be enough. Ugh.
1
Oh snore. A married man has an affair, a decade before he achieves high public office, with an adult woman which was wholly consensual, even by her own admission? Oh, no!
This country long ago left behind that as any standard to judge presidents. The last I heard, both JFK and WJC are still revered by Democrats.
8
Thou shalt not commit adultery. As far as I know, it still hasn't been repealed.
8
The difference is that Clinton had a consensual affair with an adult woman who did not demand a payoff. When he admitted to the affair, Republican heads nearly exploded and called for his impeachment.
Trump disgraces himself everyday, and too many people say, ‘Ho hum,’ or ‘What about JFK?’
4
Trump is a scoundrel, but I fail to see the relevance of a consensual, non-exploitive affair that took place before he was in office. She took money to stay mum. That’s on her.
Other than feeling a little sorry for Melania I get nothing ro this story.
12
Money exchanged for sex is prostitution--a crime in this county. Any citizen would go to jail for this.
7
maybe Ms. McDougal is from Scotland
1
VOA, it’s not “money exchanged for sex.” Read the entire article before posting. She took money to stay quiet. She sold her story to a tabloid. It was a simple, tawdry affair. Legal and consensual, even if you don’t approve.
Next?
1
Funny how Evangelicals are so adamant about forgiving Trump for his little sins. The cheating on his wife with porn actresses and Playboy models. For luridly explaining how he gropes women by their genitals. For storming the dressing rooms of teenage beauty pageant contestants to leer at them in various stages of nudity. For insulting the disabled. For degrading people of color. For telling so many lies his tongue should burst into flames. But these same "Christians" are the first to condemn and persecute gay and trans people. The first to vilify anyone who doesn't believe chapter and verse of their Bible. I'd love for Jesus to return to earth to a place like Lakewood Church and deliver some well earned Biblical curses
124
With more paid (or paid off) women likely to step forward--Evangelicals and other Christians will likely find they've reached their "rationalization" and "forgiveness" limit at some point.
hoping Melania will step up and take Barron and head out so Trump is the first American president to become divorced while in office. I know I'm dreaming but.................
66
Trump would likely have her parents deported immediately thereafter. So, no. He has too much leverage over her.
4
I wonder if Trump is bribing or threatening Melania not to divorce him.?
15
I'm sure the prenup that was renegotiated while she stayed away after inauguration covers this.
13
If he pays his flings this much not to speak, what is he paying his wife?
24
Multimillion dollar diamonds and more for clothes! And then there are the gold fixtures in the bathroom.
2
The most disgusting President ever. And also one of the most disgusting human beings. I've run out of ways to be repulsed.
148
There have only been 45 Prezzes, so putting him such company pays him a compliment. He's surely one of the most revolting people ever....
3
Ditto.
2
"I was into his intelligence + charm." LOLOL. What drug was she on?
72
Well, I have no doubt that he is actually smarter than she is. And we know how "smart" he is so that is not saying much for her.
You lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas.
2
I know, right...all I can think of is eewwwww...no room dark enough, no check big enough to make me want to be that close to him!
7
Does this make McDougal the Second Lady?
15
The fourth.
No, at least the 5th... First was Ivana, then Marla Maples, followed by Melania, followed by Stormy Daniels followed by Karen McDougal, followed by.....
4
probably the 40th or so, opr if Bannon was right there were "hundreds" on the campaign trail. CAMP FOLLOWERS, no doubt.
3
Frankly, this should not be legal. The press should not be able to buy the silence of witnesses to political and moral misdeeds.
568
Standard contract law. If you sell me exclusive rights to your story, I then own it, not you. That means I, not you, have the right to release it. If you release it once you've sold it to me, you have stolen back the property that you sold me. You are then a thief, both morally and legally. It's all pretty simple, really.
1
You are both conflating facts and assuming intent that may or may not exist. It is not illegal to buy story and never publish it. Whether that is ethical is up for consideration. It is common for publications to purchase and sit on content (usually essays or light fare such as travel or other “experience” pieces) that they can drop in as needed in future issues. Magazines, with their long lead times, do this all the time. So the publisher of a scandal sheet bought the rights to the story of a woman’s affair with a (married) “boldnames” man who has long been perfect tabloid bait. Business as usual, so far. The publisher buries the story. Not quite on the level, but still normal in the world of tabloids.
Call me cynical, but I don’t see this as a problem. This happened before Trump was in politics. And the publication in question is a celebrity gossip rag that occasionally runs headlines about UFOs. Tempest, teacup.
1
You are right: this should not be legal. It is wrong in a "free society" (cough).
Trump would not have been able to get elected with credible stories of extramarital affairs while with Melania. Wouldn't have happened.
2
The focus on this kind of reporting is a gigantic distraction from the more important issues facing this country since the new administration has begun. What matters more - who Trump has/had an affair with or the fact that he is in the process of loading federal courts with more lifetime appointments than any president, and that this administration has the potential to cause irreversible damage not only to this country, but to the whole planet? Let's try to please get our priorities straight.
51
actually it is the very reason why NOTHING is getting done. Trump said that if Hillary was elected, the nation would spend the first year of her term going through an investigation. ISN'T that what trump has provided us with? The whole 1st years and now into the 2nd and it's just one investigation after another.
9
It only matters when it is a Democrat, right?
3
The most interesting thing we are learning is that our laws are very adeptly used to allow bribery and threats as standard operating procedure to protect the powerful and their close "friends."
109
I wonder: would these documented extramarital affairs disqualify Trump from being granted a high level security clearance as, say, a DOD staffer in the Pentagon or even to work in the White House? I somehow doubt it.
85
No, the president does not need secret clearance. Only his/her staff is subjected to it.
3
The only reason Donald Trump has any kind of security clearance is because he was elected President. He was granted it de facto but not in fact truly cleared for a security clearance because he could never be.
11
It would for anyone other than the President. In other words, as he is
Commander in Chief, he cannot be disqualified for security once he is sworn in. (We should have thought of things like that earlier before we voted him in.)
However, I do believe that there have been instances where the President has not been told of capabilities or intelligence until it was absolutely necessary.
4
Trump certainly is a great role model for our kids.
Would you leave your 13 year old daughter alone in a room with him?
God help us.
320
This was the gist of Michelle Obama's eloquent speech about Trump before the election. But alas, too many in our country think this is just fine behavior. And they obviously don't care about their kids or grandchildren because our planet is going to be in bad shape after the Trump presidency ends.
70
Some recent survey said yes, apparently some 74% of Republicans think he's a great role model for their kids. It seems America has lost its moral core. We are in such trouble, with our without Trump who is just a horrific symptom of our dysfunction.
28
How do you feel about President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who had multiple affairs in the White House under his wife's nose? Same indignity?
2
Don't blame me...I voted for a Goat.
13
Well there are affairs, usually referring to sexual relations outside of your marriage, and then there is paying for sex and companionship, which is what we have here (I know, more yucky behavior from the Groper in Chief).
Ms McDougal took money for her travel, other money plus gifts from our now president Trump. She sold her body to be close to a powerful narcissist. Oh! How exciting! Turns out that Trump had a lot to say while they were between high thread count sheets and she wishes now she could reveal all the horrible things that he said because living with all his words still bouncing around in her head now, seems to be too big a price to pay. Or perhaps she has visions of the book she could write if she hadn't signed that pesky non disclosure agreement.
As we read about our president's sordid past, I try to understand the Evangelical Christians who stand behind him and run their weekly prayer meetings to save his soul... That's "the spirit!" On the other hand I do understand many of the white middle class men that voted for him. I think in their hearts they would just love to experience a few nights with one of his mistresses. Just check their addiction to pornography. This is just another version of it.
Sad.
205
Let's review your back-handed slap at the non-elected partner in this situation. It seems like you're quick to place a lot of blame on Ms. McDougal for consenting to an affair and accepting reimbursement for travel and hotel stays in order to continue the affair at Trump's convenience.
She may or may not be thinking about writing a book. So what?
What about Trump's repeated pattern of behavior? He assumes all women are whores, in person and legislatively. He has no more concern for his wife and new baby at home than he does for any issues facing the country.
By trying to normalize Trump's disastrous world-view, you bring voters down to his level. Not every guy who ever bought a Playboy magazine cheats on a succession of wives AND has the ability and opportunity to destroy our country.
8
Margaret Atwood suggested once that if you want to see into the heart of Evangelical Christians you should read Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown. I highly recommend it as a way to gain understanding of the Devout.
3
How refreshing. This is the first time in a long time that I can recall someone admitting in public that they made a mistake. Good for Ms. McDougal for admitting that she didn't fully understand what she was giving up by selling out to American Media, and good for her for admitting "I'm the one who took it, so its my fault too." Has she perhaps acquired the moral compass that ought to be required for higher office? (Just kidding, kinda.)
21
It's laughable that AMI holds influence over POTUS? It's pretty clear they do. You don't pay 6 figures for nothing. Stormy too got paid 6 figures and clearly did have influence and still does. And if you think a sex story and 6 figures of money gets you influence, what does a sex film from Moscow and 9 figures of money laundering get you? Oh, that's right no sanction enforcement, access to the White House, the CIA and every thing else your twisted heart desires.
294
I don't think they paid to have influence over Trump: they paid to protect him.
5
Anyone who would work with the "enquirer" should hardly be taken seriously,
8
Wouldn't being "taken seriously" depend on whether she told the truth, not who she talked to?
3
And if the Enquirer doesn't publish a story, it must be true, right?
1
You mean Trump?
6
Of course we should expect the White House to deny this affair (and that with Stormy Daniels) irrespective of whatever Ms. McDougal (and Stormy Daniels) say.
These stories are wonderful to read as they subscribe to everything we know about Trump. Unfortunately, he will remain the Teflon Don until the money path leads, irrefutably, to his door.
The best any of us can do is to "stay tuned."
26
In today’s online Times, I can read about and view an Olympic skater’s perfectly shaped abs and a gorgeous former Playboy model’s alleged affair with a miserable self-loving playboy who occupies the Oval Office.
Who knew the newspaper of record would provide such insightful and necessary “news?”
14
Clinton was impeached for having an affair and lying about it. If you don't think a president who cheats on his wife, pays people to shut up and could be blackmailed or influenced by a media conglomerate is not news, well, what is? As to beautiful people in the media? Get used to it. Most of us like beautiful human forms.
20
Over 1/3 of Americans in marriages admit to cheating. Trump was both famous and wealthy and had many women going after him at all times, as all powerful men do.
It's easy for us to judge him but I'm not sure how many men would be able to resist in similar circumstances when a Playboy model is after you and you're going through a hard time in your relationship.
As long as it was a temporary mistake he made then I don't see it as a big deal, I'd forgive him. Monogamy works for some people but it's counter to many strong biological/genetic pulls, and given the huge % of people who cheat, and current society doesn't properly openly address this fact.
It happens everywhere but is kept hidden with a phony pseudo-acceptance - unless you get caught.
I don't condone his activity, nor would I encourage it, but it is entirely possible was a simple lapse in judgement, a harmless fling, or a sex-addiction that needs to be address through therapy.
Many presidents before Trump have done the same or worse (see JFk and Mimi Beardsley's story of being 19yr old intern and having sex daily with JFK, then being passed around to his defence secretary...). He may still need to grow as a man but he's 70 now and I will only judge him on his ability to lead a country, not his private life.
12
yep, and Kennedy was no great shakes as a president either. It also comes after a lot of the people who support Mr trump have howled at the moon that morality matters when the name is clinton but think its all ok with it if the name is trump or gingrich.
48
You still haven't answered the suggestions that (1) Mr. Pecker and AMI hold improper leverage over the President and (2) the $150,000 payment and the decision to hush the story constitute illegal contributions to the Trump campaign.
30
How does Melania feel about this?
6
I hope someone at the paper recognizes slippery slopes when they see them. Bait with hook, fellas.
8
Money is power. We all know that. I admit I'm still in awe of the fact that you can buy silence, and thus you can buy your own truth. Let's face it, this creep has tabloid newspapers, he even has his own TV station.
28
And Steve Bannon blurted out there were hundreds of women being paid off as the Inauguration approached. Just exactly how many women and how much were they paid and by whom?
If Trump had 'friends' who paid the hush money for him, how is he not beholden to these 'friends'? We're talking potentially big bucks here.
Donald is in it up to his neck. #MeToo
251
I'm no fan of trump and hope he will be impeached, But I also don't have much sympathy for a porno star crying about fallout from her fling with him - which she has already cashed in on, and apparently is hoping to do so again. Anything to make a buck pretty much sums up trump - and this woman.
14
No, the porno star was the other one. This one is the Playboy model. Please keep Trump's dalliances and payout straight.
391
God, I miss Obama.
41
Melania's pre-nup agreement needs to be made public (and Trump's taxes). She must be set free from this demon.
This is a long pattern of behavior by Trump and the shame he brings onto his wife and children is a disgrace.
142
And the shame he brings on the nation
72
Why on earth would her pre-nup be anyone’s business? It has nothing to do with her husband’s current job.
3
Melania Trump went on TV to defend her husband's birthism claims against Barack Obama. She plagiarized Michelle Obama in her convention speech. To portray her as an innocent victim is a stretch. She has gobs of money, makeup, clothes, plastic surgery, and one male child. Substantiate any other goals she has set for herself.
21
You can't trust a man who is having multiple affairs. The nature of an affair is cheating, lying, and lack of trust. This is how he is treating Americans. The only thing different is that we are not getting a payoff; he is!
461
Trump will deny all as fake news until another affair is revealed -- he will then do the same thing while his lawyers and aides cover for him. This has been and is his life -- he does what he wants and lies about it. His behavior as amoral and abhorrent as it is has made him a very rich man with lots of ladies so why change? (although no doubt he exaggerates his wealth and conquests to others).
Eventually he will slip up as Bill Clinton did and will perjure himself. Let's hope out of his own foolish hubris he submits to an interview under oath with the Special Counsel.
48
its proof that if you inherit wealth the rules are different
9
He'll slip up when we discover he's turned the USA over to the Russians.
9
Well the evangelicals may have to issue another Mulligan here (and hope Jesus' second-coming includes a collective Mulligan for those who have so blatantly politicized the corporate clergy).
86
I just wonder how many Mulligans Melania will give Donald?? The GOP roundly criticized, disparaged, harangued, and chided Hillary for staying with Bill, despite his philandering. What will they say about Melania if she chooses to do the same?
60
They will probably say, Fake news!"
7
Looks like it’s time for the Evangelical leaders to throw another Mulligan Trump’s way. I’d sure like to play golf with these guys. And before we get too teary-eyed for Melania, she knows all about her husband’s adventures. It was all part of the “trophy wife” deal. He gets to do whatever he wants with other women. She gets the gold.
150
OMG!!! I am utterly shocked!
Just kidding.
144
Melania should move out and file for divorce. Free Melania!
89
Free Bonnie ? She and Clyde were both bank robbers !
4
Iron clad (shackles) prenup?
She only took home $80k? Before taxes? Man she is no dealmaker I would want to see in the oval office.
13
She was into Donald Trump's "intelligence"? Hoo boy. I guess it didn't take much for her to get naked.
348
Relative to her, he may have seemed intelligent. Playboy Bunnies are not hired for their intelligence.
5
Wow. What on earth would make this Playboy Bunny think DJT is intelligent and charming?
Oh, wait.... I get it. The answer is right there: Playboy Bunny.
124
...publisher’s $150,000 payment...
3
She said "intelligent and charming", I heard "rich."
5
Let us not forget how "horrified" the evangelical right was when the Monica Lewinsky affair with Bill Clinton came out. The entire right was clamoring for Clinton's impeachment. Let's see how the far right treats the ugliness of this president. Trump is a terrible man and he's a terrible president.
1033
They gave Bill a mulligan too right? Oh wait....
16
I agree but....not completely as Clinton's act was "while in office" not some 10 year prior to office. "In office"...I'm with you, the GOP would be in a corner and have to impeach him as well.
I don't really know if I care. We don't collectively care about Kennedy...honestly, if it made him a better, more focused President. I'd pay to have the Bunny Ranch supply the leader of the free world.
I'm also jealous....there's that.
7
I remember them continually fretting, “What will we tell the children?"
9
I suspect this will be one more story that gets lost in the cacophony of scandals that spew from this administration like confetti on New Year's Eve. Trump and all of his minions are a disgrace and an urgent threat to this nation. How much more proof do we need that the famous dossier - esp. the most salacious parts of it - are absolutely true and we have a "useful idiot" of Russia in the White House?
305
This may be, finally, the beginning of his end. The story is too salacious to be ignored. Humans are humans, even if they are crazy Republicans.
24
Do you have proof Republicans are human? Humans are suppose to be sentient, self aware, and have empathy. I know very few Republicans who have more than one of these traits.
15
I disagree...Republicans sold their souls a long time ago. This story will in no way deter Trump voters from supporting Trump. This story adds nothing to what we already knew or suspected of Trump. In fact he has turned out to be exactly what we thought he was. A disgusting, crude, misogynistic womanizer and Republicans love it.
15
don't count on it.
2
Just how many mulligans will evangelicals give Trump anyway? Overlapping affairs will th a new baby and a wife in the background. Questionable taste all around though. Trump doesn't strike many women as epitomizing charm, intelligence and politeness. Evidently Trump's family knew all about these affairs. Strange family values by the GOPand evangelicals these days.
249
None of this is surprising. We knew from the start that Trump was a playboy who was probably never faithful to Melania.
The reasons he won in 2016, are, I believe, due to the rottenness of both parties, and the way they took ordinary voters for a ride for decades.
From a frustrated Democratic voter
36
When a man divorces his wife and marries his mistress, he creates a job opening.
8
Of course there are 101 reasons Hillary lost, but I can only blame her for the factors she had control of. She could have not run twice like she promised. She could have no come into the campaign with two stupid, self inflicted scandals which allowed her to be painted with brush of them both being corrupt, she could have visited MI or WI ONCE, she could have not spend time and money in NC, AZ, or Ohio, she could have had a message, she could been MUCH more visible in the final 30 days, she could have listened to Bill when he said, Honey it's the Rust Belt, she could have not mocked Bill when he said, Bill could have stayed off the tarmac. In short the Clinton's did many, many things that cost them votes. And all it took was 78,000 in 3 states. Russia and Comey aside, she could have managed that. Jill Stein could have learned from Ralph Nader too.
4
"racially insensitive and disrespectful comments"
Yup, that's our president.
364
She's not bad looking.
10
He’s not good looking.
23
@Journeywoman: Brava!
6
Really ?
A billionaire has an affair with a playboy model, she is a publicity seeking, egocentric big mouth, and she ended up with a lot of his money.
Other exciting news = gravity exists,
air contains oxygen,
most children like ice cream.
Please publish more news the publicly desperately needs to know...
19
She had an affair with a man who is now POTUS. In American politics, that normally ends one’s career. THAT’S newsworthy.
On top of that, she was bought off by a friend of Mr. Trump who then decided against running a story despite the fact that it would have garnered international attention. That’s ALSO newsworthy.
It’s even MORE newsworthy because Trump’s base is made up of the most self-righteous, “traditional values” oriented, moralizing, proselytizing segment of society. Their silence is deafening,
So you can drop the act. The only people for whom this IS NOT newsworthy are Trump supporters.
1174
You must not have read the part about how Trump's payoff created a bribery opportunity for Mr. Pecker.
125
Watch it, Mr. Hamilton. Don't try to introduce any perspective to this discussion. We must, at all costs, protect adulteresses who take six-figure payoffs and then wish they'd held out for more. I, for one, totally believe Ms. McDougal when she says it took her nearly a year to discover that Trump was not the witty, urbane and charming adulterer she had hooked up with, but instead a racially insensitive, disrespectful boor. Wonder if Ms. McDougal considered her actions at any point, disrespectful, to Melania Trump?
27
Would love to see how Melania and Trump get along these days. I’d also love to see some Evangelical explain how all this extramarital sex, cash payoffs, and lying about it square with their sincerest religious beliefs and support of the lying cheater in chief.
708
Andrew, please direct your questions to VP Pence who has a front row seat with his boss.
25
How much longer can holy Mike Pence stand behiind this disgraceful man, smile on his face? What is going to take before Mitch and Paul to say "enough"! One can only pray!
9
Steve Bannon is reported to have let slip to the "Fire and Fury" author that Trump has paid for sex with over 100 prostitutes and escorts. Add in the over 20 women on record that he's publicly assaulted them and the 13-year-old girl that he raped--and it's clear Trump is one really sick man.
10
McDougal should be angry! The Trump gang gave Stormy a better deal.
72
Bunnies are different than porn stars.
7
Just more of the same womanizing behavior exhibited by Donald Trump at the expense of his wife, Melania, and family.
Selfish doesn't even begin to describe the Donald Trump's behavior of all-me all-the -time - whatever I want - and to hell with everyone else because it is all about me...always.
When is this fiasco going to end? The American public did not vote for this disgraceful,lying womanizer. As a country, Americans are far better than this and the sooner he is out of the White House, the better.
As I type this response, a NY Times header just popped up "The special counsel filed the first charges for 2016 election meddling, accusing 13 Russians of using social media to influence U.S. voters."
Thank you Robert S. Mueller for your efforts on behalf of all Americans disgusted with Donald Trump and spineless Republicans who have brought us this hideous nightmare.
266
"I was into his intelligence + charm." She must have been paid a way lot more money.
536
The most "blackmailable" president in history. And I'm sure Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service knows it. For all we know, they have the Enquirer on their payroll. I remember laughing off conspiracy theories in the past, even when they concerned a president I disliked. With this president, though, the possibilities are limitless.
507
"David Pecker, who is close with Mr. Trump, routinely bought stories with no intention of running them, sometimes using the pieces as leverage."
This is the arch-typical method of extorting and controlling individuals. As they say in the business - "Donald Trump's our boy now." This is the exact same technique that Vladimir Putin is using with Trump. My guess is that he has a combo of sex videotapes and illegal business activity.
Donald's Putin's boy now.
821
Agreed. And STILL no movement in DC to impeach. A lot of noise, but no action. I don't expect any action, either, while the GOP works feverishly to push us back to the 1950's.
17
"No puppet, no, puppet" in response to Hilary
4
This is specious. Trump's base cares nothing about his affairs. Didn't we learn that already?? He confessed on tape to grabbing and harassing women. Ke this is the what, second payoff, I'm a month we learn about? Think his base cares?
Putin may have illegal business activity but the sex thing is. It something with which he can be blackmailed.
And I'm skeptical of the whole notion. After all, I can't think of one decision that has helped Russia. We've levied more sanctions and have opposed Russia on every contentious issue that's come up, from Syria, where we apparently just killed dozens of Russian troops, to the Jerusalem thing.
I can't stand trump but if there's evidence Trump is doing Putins bidding it's nothing we've seen yet.
Ah yes...his intelligence.
475
And CHARM!! Haven't you noticed how charming he is?
42
Yes -- not to mention his charm!
24
Yes, he's, like, really smart. And who can forget his stable genius comment? It would be hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic and scary at the same time.
12