Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, right, who claims that she had a year-long affair with President Donald Trump. Photos / Supplied
Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, right, who claims that she had a year-long affair with President Donald Trump. Photos / Supplied
A Playboy Playmate who claims that she had a year-long affair with President Donald Trump is sharing new details about how the real estate scion used his money and power to get her in bed and then ensure her silence.
Karen McDougal tells The New Yorker that she and President Trump met back in 2006 at a party that was hosted by Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion.
President Trump took an immediate liking to McDougal she later wrote in her journal, noting that one of the magazine's mrketing executives joked: "Wow, he was all over you - I think you could be his next wife."
Playboy model Karen McDougal claimed she had a consensual relationship with Donald Trump over several months beginning in 2006. Photo / Getty
His third wife Melania was back in New York with the couple's three-month old Barron at the time, and shortly after the party McDougal was invited to have dinner with President Trump in his private bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel, reports Daily Mail.
That encounter was also detailed in her journal, with McDougal writing that it culminated with the pair's first sexual encounter.
When they were done, Trump offered to give McDougal money.
"He offered me money," wrote McDougal in her journal.
"I looked at him (+ felt sad) + said, "No thanks - I'm not 'that girl'. 'I slept w/you because I like you - NOT for money'"- He told me "you are special."'
McDougal, who was the Playmate of the Month for December 1997 and later Playmate of the Year for 1998, said she was drawn to Trump's personality above all else.
"I was so nervous! I was into his intelligence + charm. Such a polite man," she wrote in her journal.
McDougal began to see Trump whenever he was in Los Angeles, which at the time was quite often due to his work on The Apprentice.
It would always be at the same bungalow and President Trump would always have the same meal said McDougal, who was also quite impressed by the fact that he never drank alcohol.
The affair soon moved out of the bungalow and into the real world however, with McDougal claiming she met Trump's children, got a private tour of his New York City residence and began flying around the country so the two could be together.
The affair would ultimately last 10 months, and it would be 10 years after it ended that McDougal found herself silenced after signing a $150,000 (NZD $203,000) deal with media company AMI, which is owned by President Trump's close friend David Pecker.
The 1998 Playmate of the Year says she would visit Trump at the famous Beverly Hills Hotel. Photo / Getty Images
President Trump has denied the affair through a spokesperson, with the White House stating: "This is an old story that is just more fake news. The President says he never had a relationship with McDougal."
One such event was the Lake Tahoe golf tournament - the same place where Trump allegedly began an affair with pornstar Stormy Daniels that same year.
McDougal claims that the relationship began to fall apart when Trump began making racially charged comments about her friendship with an African American man. He would reportedly tell her that she liked "the big black d**k."
She also became increasingly concerned about what her mother would think of her lifestyle.
In April 2007, after ten months, she finally ended the affair.
Karen McDougal (second from left) with Hugh Hefner, fellow bunnies Christine Santiago and Julie Cialini, and George Maloof (top right). Photo / Getty
McDougal, the 1998 Playmate of the Year and runner up Playmate of the 90s, said she sold her story to the National Enquirer's publishing company, according to the Wall Street Journal, who first broke the story around the time of the election after reviewing the details of her contract.
But the National Enquirer never published McDougal's allegations, and were using the contract to instead operate as an NDA to ensure McDougal kept quiet about the affair according to the report.
McDougal and American Media Inc., which owns the National Enquirer, agreed to the transaction in early August, the Wall Street Journal reported.
American Media Inc. said in a statement the $150,000 was payment for exclusive life rights to any story related to a relationship McDougal may have had with a married man - and for fitness columns written by her.
The contract, according to the Wall Street Journal, kept McDougal from disclosing her story on other outlets and established damages of at least $150,000 if she shared her account elsewhere.
But American Media Inc. didn't plan on publishing the story, even though McDougal expected it to run, people familiar with the situation told the Wall Street Journal.
Tara Conner, Miss USA 2006, and Donald Trump, 2006. Photo / Getty
"AMI has not paid people to kill damaging stories about Mr Trump," the company said in the statement.
Meanwhile, McDougal admits she's nervous about finally sharing her story. But says she was inspired to come forward after Stormy Daniels made her affair public.
And she hopes to use her story to inspire other women to think before signing agreements that could force them into silence.
The National Enquirer has supported Trump throughout the presidential campaign.
American Media Inc CEO David Pecker told the Wall Street Journal in a statement it was known that he and Trump are friends.
But he used the National Enquirer's coverage of Trump's affair with Marla Maples when he was married to his first wife Ivana was a proof of the publication's independence.
McDougal told several friends that she had a relationship with Trump lasting about 10 months, people familiar with her account said.
