Ex Playboy model Karen McDougal shares intimate details about 'ten-month affair' with Donald Trump ·

02 May 2024, 00:00

Clad in a dressing gown, and not much else, in the suite of a luxury hotel in West Hollywood, it's clear to see how Karen McDougal might attract the attention of a rich, powerful, older man. A man like former president, Donald Trump, for instance.

Karen is an ex-Playboy model who claims she had a ten-month affair with Trump back in 2006. She's one of two women – the other being Stormy Daniels – who allegedly had a relationship with the married multi-millionaire prior to his successful 2016 election campaign.

It's these women's allegations that lie at the heart of the Manhattan District Attorney's office investigation into the now 76-year-old Trump, making him the first former president in history to face criminal charges – 34 of them, to be precise – all of which he denies.

But while Stormy Daniels is the accuser everyone knows about – a former adult film star whose silence was brokered and bought for $130,000 by Trump's 'fixer', his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who was jailed for perjury – fewer have heard of Karen McDougal.

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Karen McDougal, an ex-Playboy model who claims she had a ten-month affair with former president Donald Trump back in 2006, gave an exclusive interview to Daily Mail

'I was in love with him. He was in love with me. I know that because he told me all the time,' she said of her relationship with Trump

Her story was similarly bought for nearly $150,000 and buried, by a tabloid, a strategy known as a 'catch and kill', in the run up to the election.

But unlike Stormy Daniels – who has left her contempt for Trump in no doubt, describing their alleged sexual encounter as 'the worst 90-seconds of my life' – Karen insists, in her exclusive interview with Daily Mail, that their relationship was real and loving.

It's certainly easy to see how Trump might have fallen for her.

Now aged 52, with cascades of brunette hair and the figure of a woman half her age, she's also smart and feisty – a 'bunny' with a brain – and a sharp wit, too.

I ask how she feels about the former president denying that their ten-month affair happened: Trump has rubbished affairs with both Karen and Stormy Daniels, and claims the criminal charges are part of a 'political witch hunt' to try to stop him from running for office again.

'His people have denied it, but he's never denied it,' she corrects me. 'A reporter asked him: 'Did you have an affair with Karen McDougal?' and all he said was: 'I've done nothing wrong.' He knows I'm telling the truth.'

'He followed me around like a puppy dog, trying to get my attention,' she says of Trump

She has a point. For while Trump has mocked Stormy Daniels, calling her 'horse face' and 'a total con job' and has bad-mouthed E. Jean Carroll, the advice columnist who was awarded $5million in damages last week after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming her, as a 'whack job', he has never said anything derogatory about Karen.

While we're on the subject, there are a few other assumptions Karen would like cleared up about her association with Trump.

Firstly, theirs was not a casual affair; they were in love, she insists.

'I was in love with him. He was in love with me. I know that because he told me all the time. He'd say 'You're my baby and I love you'. He showed me off to his friends.'

And secondly, she insists, she dumped him. 'I'm portrayed as the disgruntled woman, but I am not that woman. I ended it,' she says.

She had been thinking of ways to get out of the relationship, she says: 'A family member came to town and we went to a bar and I met a lovely man named Bruce.'

The Bruce she is referring to is Die-Hard actor Bruce Willis with whom she was pictured, hand-in-hand, in Italy on holiday a few months later in 2007, and whom she dated for six months.

McDougal claims she began seeing Trump in June 2006 and says she ended it in April 2007 and then moved on with actor Bruce Willis. She was photographed with Willis in Italy on vacation in August 2007

'I wasn't cheating on Trump but Bruce and I were talking on the phone a lot already so that made it easier to end it,' she aid. She is pictured on an Italian vacation with Willis

'I wasn't cheating on Trump but Bruce and I were talking on the phone a lot already so that made it easier to end it. Why would I stay with a married man when Bruce was a nice guy, and single?' she reasons.

Quite how her life path came to cross that of the one-time most powerful man in the world sounds like an 'American Dream' type story.

One of five children brought up in a working-class family in Michigan, Karen was teaching four-year-olds at a pre-school when, after having her breasts surgically enhanced from 34B to 34D, she entered a swimsuit competition.

The competition took her all the way to Playboy magazine where she was named Playmate of the Month for December 1997, Playmate of the Year in 1998 and in 2001 the magazine's readers voted her runner-up for Playmate of the 90s, behind former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson. (She had her implants removed in 2016 over health concerns.)

In 2006, Trump, who was then the star of the reality TV show, Celebrity Apprentice, attended a pool party at the Playboy mansion in Los Angeles, hosted by Hugh Hefner for the show's contestants.

He'd been married to wife Melania less than two years at the time, and she'd just given birth to their son Barron.

Nevertheless, Karen, who was wearing a see-through dress over her swimsuit, says she caught Trump's eye.

'He followed me around like a puppy dog, trying to get my attention,' she says. 'He took to me so much that the Bunny Mother (the woman charged with looking after the women working as Playboy bunnies) said: 'Wow, he really has a thing for you'.'

'I was saying goodbye and he was standing next to his body guard Keith Schiller (who later got a top job at the White House, before being fired) and he said, 'Keith, get her number,'.'

'He called a few days later and asked me to have dinner with him at the Beverly Hills Hotel,' she says.

'I'm ashamed about it now because I knew he was married but at the time it was out of sight, out of mind. I was a different girl then, having fun and not thinking about things too deeply.'

For the date, she dressed in a Roberto Cavalli long-sleeved blouse and jeans. Keith was dispatched to pick her up but, to her surprise, she was driven to the back entrance of the famous hotel. For reasons that are obvious to her now, she had to be kept under wraps.

McDougal appears in photo with Melania, Donald and Ivanka Trump. Their affair began when Trump had been married to wife Melania less than two years and she'd just given birth to their son Barron

McDougal, pictured above in 2006 at the time she was allegedly sleeping with Trump, said she cried after their first date when he offered her money

McDougal was teaching four-year-olds at a pre-school when, after having her breasts surgically enhanced from 34B to 34D, entered a swimsuit competition. The competition took her all the way to Playboy magazine where she was named Playmate of the Month for December 1997

Instead of dinner in the restaurant, they had steak and mashed potatoes delivered by room service in the bungalow where Trump was staying. 'We ate at a little table in the kitchen area with the TV on in the background,' she remembers.

'After dinner, things heated up and Trump made his move. I was attracted to him, but it wasn't like I was looking to jump into bed with Donald Trump, on the first night especially,' she says.

But jump into bed they did, she says. Afterwards, she was horrified when Trump offered her money. 'I was dressed and ready to go, and I saw this stack of cash in his hand,' she recalls.

'I said; ''I'm not that kind of girl''. He knew he'd made a mistake when he saw how upset I was. He told me I was really special.'

Nevertheless, she 'cried all the way home' as Keith drove her back.

'I didn't think I'd see Trump again – but we got past it. I got another call asking me to dinner and I don't know why, but I said yes.'

They embarked, she claims, on a consensual affair, meeting five or more times a month. Their first outing together was to an event in Lake Tahoe in July 2006, where Stormy Daniels claims she had sex with Trump.

'I don't know how he squeezed that in,' Karen comments, raising her perfectly arched eyebrows. 'If it happened, it must have been the day before I arrived, or the day after I left, because I thought I was with him all the time.'

She accompanied him to Trump golf courses in New Jersey and California and he showed her around his three-story penthouse in Trump Tower in Manhattan.

'As we passed staff in the building, I asked; 'aren't you afraid they're going to say something?' And Trump said 'nah, they won't say anything'.'

'It was just a tour – nothing happened, in there,' she says. 'I was desperate to get out because I was in another woman's house. I was uncomfortable.'

Throughout their alleged affair, Karen says she made her own travel arrangements. 'I paid for my flights and hotels, and he reimbursed me in cash,' she explains. 'It was so there wouldn't be any paper trail, no proof.'

'I thought I was the only woman. He always talked about other girls – do you think that girl's pretty or that girl's pretty? But I didn't think to ask if there actually were other women – usually it's only one mistress at a time, right?' she laughs.

She also met – and was photographed with – Trump's sons Eric and Donald Jr., and daughter Ivanka, which is when she says the guilt intensified. Action man Bruce Willis hovering in the background probably helped too, and she decided to end things.

So how did that go down?

Trump and McDougal embarked, she claims, on a consensual affair, meeting five or more times a month. Their first outing together was to an event in Lake Tahoe in July 2006, where Stormy Daniels claims she had sex with Trump

Stormy Daniels alleged an affair with trump. The former adult film star's silence was brokered and bought for $130,000 by Trump's 'fixer', his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who was jailed for perjury

McDougal said she was was horrified when Trump offered her money after they first slept together. 'I was dressed and ready to go, and I saw this stack of cash in his hand,' she recalls

'It happened over the phone,' she tells me. 'My mother didn't like us being together and I used that as the excuse. He said; 'What? That old hag?' I was angry. I told him that's my mother and don't disrespect her. I pointed out that he and my mother are the same age.' (Karen's mother, Carol, is six days older than Trump).

'He wasn't happy. He doesn't like being rejected but he didn't try to persuade me to come back. The phone call ended on bad terms.'

In 2015, however, she heard that Trump was running for president. 'He once said to me: 'I'd make a great president, wouldn't I?' And I said yes but I didn't think he was taking it seriously and neither did I,' she comments.

She says she was shocked when her former lover won the Republican nomination. As the spotlight intensified, whispers of their alleged affair began to get out, and Karen says she was approached by the National Enquirer, owned by the media company AMI, whose former chief executive was David Pecker, a long-time friend of Trump.

Through her lawyer, she agreed a fee of $150,000 in exchange for a deal that she thought would be to write columns about health and fitness for a variety of the company's magazines. The story of her alleged affair would not be published.

'That suited me because I hadn't really wanted the story to get out. I thought my contract was for work and that it was a win-win situation. I didn't know the term catch-and-kill at that point. I was a pawn in that scenario because of all the stuff I wasn't privy to.'

Karen says she was 'disgusted' by the Access Hollywood 'grab them by the p***y' tape, but still voted for Trump in the 2016 election

McDougal says she has nothing but admiration for E. Jean Carroll: 'I'm glad she had her day in court and that she stood up for herself. I'm glad she got justice'

Karen did not know that the magazine was said by prosecutors to be working in concert with Trump's then-lawyer, Michael Cohen. Prosecutors claimed in a charging document earlier this month that Trump did not want the story about Karen to become public 'because he was concerned about the effect it could have on his candidacy.'

The document alleges that it was agreed that Trump would reimburse AMI for their payment to Karen, but Pecker opted not to seek repayment after talking with a company lawyer. The US Federal Election Commission ruled in 2021 that AMI's payment to Karen amounted to an illegal campaign contribution, and fined its successor company $187,500.

Trump has denied involvement in payments to either Karen or Stormy Daniels. He's described the criminal charges against him as a 'witch hunt' and 'political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history'.

His trial is expected to take place early next year. 'If I was subpoenaed as a witness, of course I'd co-operate,' says Karen.

Karen says she's been shocked by some of Trump's behavior in the last presidential campaign. 'I was horrified when he made fun of that disabled journalist,' she says, referring to Serge Kovaleski who has arthrogryposis, a congenital condition affecting the joints.

She was 'disgusted' by the Access Hollywood 'grab them by the p***y' tape.

Nevertheless, she voted for Trump in the 2016 election, because she's a life-long Republican.

'He can be crass and vulgar but when he has his kind moments, it's lovely to see because it shows there's still a human in there. He needs to have more compassion for people in general – a lot more,' she admonishes.

McDougal says of the affair and the subsequent fallout: 'The good part is that I'm stronger. I've grown from this. I'm a different woman'

As for E. Jean Carroll, she says she has nothing but admiration for her: 'I'm glad she had her day in court and that she stood up for herself. I'm glad she got justice.'

McDougal swerves when I ask if she will vote for Trump if he wins the next Republican nomination. Her answer is not exactly a ringing vote of confidence in the former US president. 'I'm hoping De Santis gets in. I'd be willing to work for his campaign,' she says, referring to the popular, and younger, politician Ron De Santis, current governor of Florida, who is expected to declare next week that he will run for the top job.

It's been 17 years since Karen and Trump met at that Playboy pool party, and it seems unfortunate that she has never been able to escape the consequences. 'Absolutely. It has changed my life,' Karen agrees. 'The bad part is that I've lost work, lost friends and my name has been smeared as an extortionist and a gold-digger. I am neither of those things.

'The good part is that I'm stronger. I've grown from this. I'm a different woman.'

Before leaving, I ask Karen what she'd do if she met Trump on the street. She smiles before replying: 'I'd say hello – and keep walking.'

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Ex Playboy model Karen McDougal shares intimate details about 'ten-month affair' with Donald Trump

Clad in a dressing gown, and not much else, in the suite of a luxury hotel in West Hollywood, it's clear to see how Karen McDougal might attract the attention of a rich, powerful, older man. A man like former president, Donald Trump, for instance.

more videos

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