Karen McDougal Once Apologized to Melania Trump After Affair with Donald Trump
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Former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, who claimed to have had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and 2007, once expressed deep regret to Melania Trump. In a 2018 interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, McDougal reflected on her feelings of remorse at the time. “What can you say except, I’m sorry? I’m sorry. I wouldn’t want it done to me, I’m sorry,” she told Cooper.
McDougal described feeling “very guilty” during the affair, especially when Trump walked her through his Trump Tower apartment and pointed out Melania’s room. “Looking back, I know it was wrong, and I’m really sorry for that. There were real feelings between us, not just from me, but from him too,” she said. Despite her guilt, McDougal continued the relationship and even considered marriage, believing that Trump had genuine affection for her.
However, she recounted a moment after their intimacy when Trump tried to pay her, an act that left her feeling disheartened. “I didn’t know how to take that. I’m not that kind of girl,” McDougal said. McDougal later became embroiled in legal battles over her story. She filed a lawsuit against American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, claiming they had paid her $150,000 for the rights to her story but never published it.
The lawsuit revealed that McDougal had been silenced about the alleged affair before the 2016 presidential election. She claimed that her lawyer at the time, Keith Davidson, was working with Michael Cohen, Trump’s attorney, to keep her quiet. McDougal’s allegations were first made public in a New Yorker article, which detailed her consensual relationship with Trump.
Despite her involvement in the scandal, McDougal emphasized her support for Trump, saying, “I’m a die-hard Republican, and I voted for Donald. I didn’t want to damage him or my party.” She initially hesitated to share her story, fearing it would harm both Trump’s reputation and her own. McDougal entered the agreement with AMI hoping to start a new career writing health and fitness articles, but she claimed the company didn’t fulfill its promises.
She only received half of the $150,000 and eventually offered to return the money to regain control of her story. McDougal’s account has added another layer to the controversies surrounding Trump’s personal life and raised questions about the lengths to which people close to him went to suppress damaging stories ahead of the 2016 election.
