- Opinion
- 23 Mar 18
A former Playboy model, Karen McDougal has claimed she had a long-term affair with Donald Trump prior to him being elected US President.
In an interview with CNN, Karen McDougal offered a public apology to the First Lady for the affair.
"I'm sorry. I wouldn't want it done to me," she said.
"When I look back, where I was back then, I know it's wrong. I'm really sorry for that. I know it's a wrong thing to do."
A shoot w/@MikeOHearn ...cold day at the beach...good thing he was big enough to block the wind, LOL. ; ) pic.twitter.com/QWzNq9Mm
— Karen McDougal (@karenmcdougal98) September 24, 2012
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Karen claimed Donald Trump offered her money after the first time they had sex back in 2006 - one year after he had married Melanie.
She said she was upset with the offer of cash and he tried to placate her by saying she was a "really special" woman because she refused it. Karen said that she was so upset that she cried on the way home.
"After we had been intimate, he tried to pay me, and I actually didn't know how to take that," McDougal said. "I've never been offered money like that. I looked at him and said, 'I'm not that type of girl."
"And he said, 'Oh,' and he said, 'You're really special,'" McDougal said, adding: "It hurt me that he saw me in that light."
Karen also revealed that she had visited Trump at Trump Towers and that they had unprotected sex on many occasions.
Karen said she had had genuine feelings forthe future US President , but the affair was "just tearing me apart".
She added: "There was a real relationship there. There were real feelings."
Karen said that she believes the feelings were mutual. "He would call me baby or he would call me beautiful Karen."
Karen signed a tell-all exclusive deal worth $150,000 back in 2016 with a media organisation American Media Inc that owns the National Equirer. But they never published the interview. She is now suing to be released from the agreement, claiming that she was tricked into it as a way to silence her from telling her story.
In a statement, the company insisted that Karen McDougal has been allowed to speak about her relationship with the US President since 2016. They maintained that their contract with her only gave the company discretion over whether or not they would actually go ahead and publish her claims of an affair.
We expect this one to rumble on for some considerable time. As they say, watch this space.