President Trump has privately told several people that adult-film star Stormy Daniels’s allegations of an affair with him are a “hoax” and that Daniels isn’t the type of woman he finds attractive, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
The president has publicly been silent about the Stormy Daniels controversy, but after she appeared on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night and shared the details of the alleged affair, Trump privately attacked her and her media tour among administration staffers.
He also asked people close to him if the whole issue is affecting his poll numbers, sources told the Post.
{mosads}
At the White House, Trump reportedly asked staff members if they had seen Daniels on “60 Minutes” and requested their thoughts.
The president did not think Daniels appeared credible, according to a source who spoke with the Post.
Over the weekend at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump also questioned friends and guests about their thoughts on the Daniels controversy.
His friends and advisers reportedly warned him that he had little to gain from engaging with Daniels.
Trump has reportedly come to the conclusion that the details of the alleged affair will not significantly damage his political support and that the issue will eventually pass.
During her interview on “60 Minutes,” Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, told Anderson Cooper she had been threatened not to speak out about the alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006.
Just a few weeks before the 2016 election, Daniels accepted at $130,000 payment from Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and signed a nondisclosure agreement. The incident occurred shortly after the release of the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump bragged about kissing and fondling women without their consent.
In recent days, however, she has sued Trump to void the agreement, arguing that his failure to sign it made it invalid.
Cohen has said Daniels is liable for $20 million in damages for breaking her agreement.
Daniels has responded by expanding her lawsuit against Trump to include Cohen. She is alleging that Cohen has defamed her by suggesting she is lying about the alleged affair.
Following the release of the “Access Hollywood” recording, Trump was accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women, with some of the allegations stretching back decades. Trump implied at the time that several of his accusers were not attractive enough to warrant his attention.
“Believe me, she would not be my first choice,” Trump said of one woman in October 2016. “That I can tell you. You don’t know. That would not be my first choice.”