- In a 2011 interview with the celebrity gossip magazine InTouch, porn star Stormy Daniels says she had a sexual encounter with then-businessman and reality-TV star Donald Trump.
- InTouch published the full interview Friday following a report that one of Trump's lawyers paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about the affair.
- She says the encounter took place while Trump was married to first lady Melania Trump.
When then-businessman Donald Trump asked porn star Stormy Daniels out to dinner during a charity golf tournament in 2006, she said she thought it'd be a great opportunity to talk to a popular TV star. But they didn't go out to dinner. They stayed in Trump's hotel room the entire night, talked about business, and eventually made their way to his bed, she said.
"[The sex] was textbook generic," Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, told the celebrity gossip magazine InTouch in 2011. "I actually don't even know why I did it, but I do remember while we were having sex, I was like, 'Please, don't try to pay me.'"
Daniels' full interview with InTouch about her alleged affair with Trump - published by the magazine Friday - took on new meaning following reports that one of Trump's most prominent lawyers paid the porn star $130,000 just weeks before the 2016 presidential election to keep her from talking publicly about the encounter.
Michael Cohen, the lawyer in question, told The Wall Street Journal that Trump "vehemently denies any such occurrence," although he did not specifically address the allegation of paying Daniels.
'He asked me a lot of questions about my business'
In the interview, Daniels said Trump invited her up to his hotel suite in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where the two spent hours together.
"He asked me a lot of questions about my business," Daniels said. "All like technical questions. He was very curious."
Daniels then got up to use the restroom, she said. When she got back, Trump was sitting on the bed, she said.
Throughout the night, and in subsequent conversations the two had for over a year, Daniels said Trump repeatedly promised to secure her a spot on "The Apprentice," Trump's former hit reality TV show on NBC.
"'I can make it happen,'" Daniels said she recalled Trump saying. "And I was like, 'You can't. I dare you.' I was totally egging him on. And that was kind of like the thing, he was like, 'No, we have to work on this for you.' And that was sort of what he tried to bait me with for an entire year."
At the time of the affair, Trump was married to first lady Melania Trump, who had just recently given birth to her son, Barron.
Daniels said that she "didn't think much about it" at the time, but that she feels bad now. When she tried to bring up Melania, she said Trump said, "Oh, don't worry about her."
After their first meeting in Lake Tahoe, Daniels said Trump called her at least three times a month. That continued for over a year. They finally met again at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, where Trump allegedly invited Daniels to join him in his private bungalow.
When she showed up, she noticed he was watching Shark Week on TV.
"He is obsessed with sharks. Terrified of sharks," Daniels said. "He was like, 'I donate to all these charities and I would never donate to any charity that helps sharks. I hope all the sharks die.' He was like riveted."
Daniels, an accomplished porn actress who has won numerous awards for her roles as both a performer and a director in adult scenes and films, has been mum on her relationship with Trump since he started running for president. But she has reportedly denied any engagement in a "sexual and/or romantic affair" with Trump, according to Cohen, the lawyer.