NY Times: Melania was blindsided by report of payment to porn star

First lady Melania Trump was reportedly “blindsided” by reports that her husband’s personal lawyer arranged a hush-money payment to an adult film star over an alleged affair that took place the year after her marriage to President Trump.

The New York Times’ Katie Rogers and Maggie Haberman reported Monday that news of the affair and six-figure payment made Melania Trump furious with the president, prompting her to keep a low profile in recent days. The anecdote is part of a larger story about what the story calls the Trumps’ “tumultuous” relationship.

Tuesday’s State of the Union address is set to be the first lady’s first public appearance since news of the affair and payment went public earlier this month.

Though she was expected to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos with her husband, Melania Trump suddenly backed out of the trip last week, instead making a surprise visit to Mar-a-Lago.

{mosads}The first lady’s aides told the Times that she has been focusing on her “role and her family.”

A spokesperson for Melania Trump said earlier this week that recent reports about the Trumps’ marriage are “salacious” and “unrealistic scenarios being peddled daily by the fake news.”

The Wall Street Journal on January 12  detailed an alleged $130,000 payment made just before the 2016 election to adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to keep her quiet about a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.

The affair would have taken place just months after the birth of the first couple’s only child, Barron. Days after the Wall Street Journal report, InTouch magazine published a 2011 interview with Clifford in which she detailed their relationship.

Clifford and Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer who allegedly arranged the payment, have denied the report of the payment.

More than a dozen women have accused Trump of sexual harassment and assault, allegations the White House categorically denies.