Donald Trump’s extramarital affairs are essentially part of his brand. The New York City real estate developer became nationally infamous in the ’80s for the feverish tabloid coverage of his first divorce, which was spurred by an affair with a model.
Today, Trump affairs are part of presidential history. Early in 2018, the “Wall Street Journal” reported that mere weeks before the 2016 election, Trump lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 to former porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about an affair she had with Trump a decade earlier. Eventually, the whole story will be told. For now, here are all the Trump affairs we know about.
Marla Maples
Donald Trump married former model Ivana Zelníčková in 1977, and they had three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric. Donald and Ivana separated in 1990 after she discovered he was having an affair with actress Marla Maples. “Donald topped even his own lofty standards for tacky behavior,” said “Newsweek” in a cover story that year on the Trumps’ separation. “There were juicy tales of Another Woman, a whole parade of women, a hotel love nest, a screaming confrontation pitting wife and mistress.”
Trump had been linked to a number of other women during his marriage, including actresses Catherine Oxenberg and Robin Givens, skater Peggy Fleming, and socialites Carolyne Roehm and Georgette Mosbacher. The women all denied the reports. But Trump’s two-year affair with Maples burst into public view when Ivana and Maples had a verbal tussle at an Aspen restaurant.
“Donald Bounced a Czech,” went one tabloid headline. “BEST SEX I EVER HAD,” said Marla about Donald in the “New York Post.” Donald and Ivana were divorced in 1991 with a $14 million settlement. Maples and Trump had a daughter, Tiffany, in October 1993 and married that December.
While Trump and Maples dated, he posed as a publicist named John Miller to tell “People” magazine that he’d never marry Maples and that he had “three other girlfriends” at the time. Trump and Maples divorced in 1999.
Stormy Daniels
Last Friday, the “Wall Street Journal” reported that Trump’s lawyer Cohen had paid Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 to keep quiet about the affair she had with Trump in 2006, one year after he married his current wife, Melania.
In a 2011 interview with “InTouch” magazine, Clifford said that she and Trump had unprotected sex while he and Melania were married and that they carried on a yearlong affair. At one point, she said, Trump had her spank him with a copy of “Forbes” magazine that bore his face.
Karen McDougal
In November 2016, the “Wall Street Journal” also reported that Trump had an affair in 2006 with Karen McDougal, 1998 Playboy Playmate of the Year. The “National Enquirer” (owned by Trump friend David Pecker) paid McDougal $150,000 for the exclusive rights to her story — and never printed it.
Sexual harassment charges
Nineteen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, including groping and unwanted kissing. Several of the incidents are said to have occurred while Trump was married.
