An ex-Playboy playmate who allegedly had a steamy affair with Donald Trump says he once tried paying her for sex — even though they were “in love.”
Karen McDougal, who filed a lawsuit this week to null a legal agreement she says prevents her from speaking publically about her affair with Trump, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Thursday that the soon-to-be president tried paying her after a tryst at the Beverly Hills Hotel in the summer of 2006.
“I don’t even know how to describe the look on my face, it must have been so sad, because I never have been offered money like that number one, and number two, does he think I’m in this for money?” McDougal, 46, said. “I looked at him and said, ‘that’s not me, I’m not that kind of girl,’ and he looked at me and said ‘oh, you’re really special.'”
McDougal said the episode left her heartbroken.
“I got home and I was crying a lot,” she said. “I felt terrible about myself.”
But McDougal said their affair continued for 10 months.
“Back in those days, I was a different girl, you know, I had fun,” McDougal said, holding back tears. “I was in the Playboy scene. I was just enjoying life as much as I could.”
First Lady Melania had given birth to Trump’s youngest son, Barron, shortly before their affair started, McDougal said.
McDougal would meet Trump for dinner and drinks whenever he came to Los Angeles, and they would more than often end up in bed. They would also rendezvous in New Jersey, New York and Nevada, McDougal said.
Even though she knew it was “wrong,” McDougal said she kept sleeping with Trump because they were “in love.”
“He always told me he loved me,” she said. “He would call me baby, or he’d call me beautiful Karen.”
McDougal said she actually met most of Trump’s family members, including Melania, Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr. The ex-Playboy model said she regrets not apologizing to Melania.
“I wouldn’t want it done to me. I’m sorry,” she said.
McDougal filed a lawsuit Tuesday charging that the Trump-boosting National Enquirer bought her salacious Trump affair story for $150,000, but never published it, leaving her forced to stay mute. The technique, known in tabloid circles as “catch and kill,” has been used on a number of occasions by the Enquirer’s parent company, American Media, Inc., according to reports.
McDougal alleges that Trump’s longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen was involved in brokering the hush agreement. Cohen did not return a request for comment from the Daily News Thursday.
McDougal said Trump didn’t seem to care that other people knew about their affair. “He wasn’t afraid to hide it at all,” McDougal said.
But McDougal’s mother gave her an earful after she revealed that she was “friends” with Trump.
“She kind of scolded me,” McDougal said. “When you have a relationship with somebody, you don’t hide it, right? If there’s feelings, you don’t hide it.”
McDougal’s lawsuit comes as porn star Stormy Daniels is already battling Trump in court over a nondisclosure agreement about their year-long affair that she says should be nulled because he never signed. Daniels alleges that Cohen facilitated also that hush agreement in exchange for $130,000.
Daniels says she started having sex with Trump when they met at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in 2006 — an event that McDougal also attended.
“My first thought is how could she have been with him when I was with him?” McDougal said of Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. “The only time we weren’t together on that particular trip was when he was on the golf course golfing. I didn’t go, clearly, but I went to every event, every after thing, parties, daytime things, I was there.”
McDougal added, “I thought I was the only one, I did. I thought I was the only one.”
Trump — who’s accused of sexual misconduct by nearly two dozen women — has not personally addressed either McDougal’s or Daniels’ claims.
Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney, admitted last month that he paid Daniels $130,000, but refused to explain why or whether he was ever reimbursed by Trump or his campaign. Trump could have violated campaign-finance laws if he in any way coordinated the payment.
Trump finally joined the legal whirlwind last week when he appended his name to a motion asking that Daniels’ lawsuit be moved from a state court to a federal one.
“Mr. Trump intends to pursue his rights to the fullest extent permitted by law,” the motion states.
