Perfect Storm
Donald Trump is used to bullying and pushing people around if they challenge him, especially women whom he often treats with disdain by commenting unfavourably on their appearance.
But the adult film star Stormy Daniels seems to have the measure of Trump and he's gone usually quiet on Twitter about the circumstances surrounding his alleged affair.
If you ask me, Morten Morland hit the nail on the head at the weekend with this Sunday Times cartoon.
Trump's Trouer Problems Continue
There seems little doubt that the adult film actress Stormy Daniels had an illicit affair with Donald Trump which he now finds very inconvenient.
Because what other reason could there possibly be for Donald Trump's lawyer paying Ms Daniels $130,000 in 'hush money' ahead of the 2016 presidential election?
In a major interview with the CBS '60 Minutes' programme Ms Daniels also revealed that she had previously been threatened to keep her mouth shut over the affair for the good of her health and wellbeing.
The threats continue to this day with Ms Daniels being warned by Trump's lawyers that she faces being sued for $20 million for breaking her 'non-disclosure' agreement which seems a tad unfair to me, given that her silence was thought only to be worth $130,000 to begin with.
Stormy Daniels 'told to leave Trump alone' over affair claims
Media caption - Stormy Daniels: 'I was threatened'
An adult film actress has said she was threatened to keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trump in 2006.
Stormy Daniels told CBS News' 60 Minutes programme that a man approached her in a Las Vegas car park in 2011.
The stranger allegedly said "leave Trump alone", then looked at her young daughter and added: "It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom."
Mr Trump denies having had an affair with the actress.
His lawyers are seeking $20m (£14m) in damages from her, saying she broke a non-disclosure deal signed before the 2016 presidential election. She says the claim is invalid and has filed a lawsuit to scrap the agreement.
Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she had had sex with Mr Trump just once, in a hotel room during a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, California, in July 2006. Mr Trump married Melania Trump in 2005.
The president and the porn star: The story explained
What exactly did Stormy Daniels say?
In the highly anticipated interview, which aired on Sunday evening, Stormy Daniels said she was approached by the man in the car park in 2011 after having agreed to sell her story to a magazine.
But the magazine did not publish the story after legal threats from Donald Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, 60 Minutes reported, citing former employees. The interview was finally published in InTouch magazine earlier this year.
"I was in a parking lot, going to a fitness class with my infant daughter," she said.
"A guy walked up on me and said to me, 'Leave Trump alone. Forget the story'. And then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, 'That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom'. And then he was gone."
President Trump has not responded to the latest allegations. After the programme aired, a lawyer representing Mr Cohen said he had nothing to do with the alleged threat, accused the actress and her lawyer of defaming him and demanded a public apology.
Image copyright - REUTERS Image caption - Mr Trump returned to the White House from Florida on Sunday
Mr Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida over the weekend but returned to the White House ahead of the 60 Minutes broadcast. Mrs Trump, however, is staying in Florida.
What is alleged to have happened in 2006?
Stormy Daniels told CBS that her only sexual encounter with Mr Trump took place after he invited her to dinner in his hotel suite.
She said he had shown her a magazine with his picture on the cover and she had jokingly smacked his bottom with it.
"He turned around and pulled his pants down a little, you know [he] had underwear on and stuff, and I just gave him a couple swats," she said.
After they talked for a while, Mr Trump allegedly told her, "You remind me of my daughter". Stormy Daniels was 27 at the time.
"You know - he was like, 'You're smart and beautiful, and a woman to be reckoned with, and I like you. I like you," she said.
Read the full transcript
She said that although she had not been attracted to Mr Trump, she had had sex with him, adding: "I didn't say no. I'm not a victim."
Mr Trump, she added, had suggested she might appear in his TV game show, The Apprentice, and she thought of the encounter "as a business deal".
Stormy Daniels' lawyer has suggested they have evidence of the affair but when asked if any videos, text messages, emails or pictures exist, she said: "I can't answer that right now."
What about the money?
Stormy Daniels told CBS she later accepted $130,000 in "hush money" from Mr Cohen just before the 2016 election because she was concerned for the safety of her family.
Mr Cohen confirmed in February he had privately paid her the money but did not say what it was for. Mr Trump's critics have suggested the money might amount to an illicit campaign contribution.
Mr Cohen said last month that neither the Trump campaign nor the Trump Organization were parties to the transaction.
Stormy Daniels told 60 Minutes she was risking a million-dollar fine by breaking the agreement and speaking out on national television "because it was very important to me to be able to defend myself".
Powerful Men and Sexual Predators (21/10/18)
The Week magazine raises the issue of powerful men as sexual predators with a front cover featuring Harvey Weinstein, Bill O'Reilly (formerly of Fox News) and last but not least Donald Trump.
Makes you think, or ought to a least.
Locker-Room Banter? (18/01/17)
Speaking at a press conference in the Kremlin the other day, Russian President Vladimir Putin had this to say about the incoming American President Donald Trump:
"This is an adult (Donald Trump) and, moreover, a man who for many years has organised beauty contests. He socialised with the most beautiful women in the world. I can hardly imagine he rushed to the hotel to meet our girls of lower social responsibility - even though they are the best in the world, of course."
"Grab them by the pussy" is locker-room banter according to Donald Trump, but it's not the kind of foul language or ugly mindset that you'd expect from a professional person never mind someone aspiring to become President of the United States.
So the race for the White House has been dragged into the world of sexual predators by the unguarded comments of the Republican nominee while his 'partner in crime', a TV presenter named Billy Bush, has been suspended by the NBC Today programme.
NBC has said there is "simply no excuse for Billy's behaviour and language on that tape", yet Trump carries on after issuing a perfunctory apology which completely ingress the fact that he was in a professional setting at the time and nowhere near a locker-room.
To their credit most of the Bush family have said they will not be voting for this buffoon and while Trump's poll ratings are taking a well-deserved hit, especially among women voters, I suspect there's much more to come in the days ahead.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37605883
Billy Bush suspended by NBC after Trump tape emerges
BBC - Entertainment & Arts
Mr Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida over the weekend but returned to the White House ahead of the 60 Minutes broadcast. Mrs Trump, however, is staying in Florida.
What is alleged to have happened in 2006?
Stormy Daniels told CBS that her only sexual encounter with Mr Trump took place after he invited her to dinner in his hotel suite.
She said he had shown her a magazine with his picture on the cover and she had jokingly smacked his bottom with it.
"He turned around and pulled his pants down a little, you know [he] had underwear on and stuff, and I just gave him a couple swats," she said.
After they talked for a while, Mr Trump allegedly told her, "You remind me of my daughter". Stormy Daniels was 27 at the time.
"You know - he was like, 'You're smart and beautiful, and a woman to be reckoned with, and I like you. I like you," she said.
Read the full transcript
She said that although she had not been attracted to Mr Trump, she had had sex with him, adding: "I didn't say no. I'm not a victim."
Mr Trump, she added, had suggested she might appear in his TV game show, The Apprentice, and she thought of the encounter "as a business deal".
Stormy Daniels' lawyer has suggested they have evidence of the affair but when asked if any videos, text messages, emails or pictures exist, she said: "I can't answer that right now."
What about the money?
Stormy Daniels told CBS she later accepted $130,000 in "hush money" from Mr Cohen just before the 2016 election because she was concerned for the safety of her family.
Mr Cohen confirmed in February he had privately paid her the money but did not say what it was for. Mr Trump's critics have suggested the money might amount to an illicit campaign contribution.
Mr Cohen said last month that neither the Trump campaign nor the Trump Organization were parties to the transaction.
Stormy Daniels told 60 Minutes she was risking a million-dollar fine by breaking the agreement and speaking out on national television "because it was very important to me to be able to defend myself".
Powerful Men and Sexual Predators (21/10/18)
The Week magazine raises the issue of powerful men as sexual predators with a front cover featuring Harvey Weinstein, Bill O'Reilly (formerly of Fox News) and last but not least Donald Trump.
Makes you think, or ought to a least.
Locker-Room Banter? (18/01/17)
Speaking at a press conference in the Kremlin the other day, Russian President Vladimir Putin had this to say about the incoming American President Donald Trump:
"This is an adult (Donald Trump) and, moreover, a man who for many years has organised beauty contests. He socialised with the most beautiful women in the world. I can hardly imagine he rushed to the hotel to meet our girls of lower social responsibility - even though they are the best in the world, of course."
Now you might put this kind of nonsense down as juvenile 'locker-room' banter, as Donald Trump has done himself, of course.
But if you ask me, President Putin's comments about Russian prostitutes being of "lower social responsibility" are hugely demeaning, particularly as he goes on to boast that "our girls......are the best in the world."
By the way it's worth remembering that while Donald Trump claims to be far too smart to be caught out by sophisticated spying equipment during his stay in Moscow, he was exposed for his "Grab 'em by the pussy" comments while wearing a lapel microphone while doing a TV show with the NBC presenter Billy Bush.
Sexual Predator (10/10/16)
"Grab them by the pussy" is locker-room banter according to Donald Trump, but it's not the kind of foul language or ugly mindset that you'd expect from a professional person never mind someone aspiring to become President of the United States.
So the race for the White House has been dragged into the world of sexual predators by the unguarded comments of the Republican nominee while his 'partner in crime', a TV presenter named Billy Bush, has been suspended by the NBC Today programme.
NBC has said there is "simply no excuse for Billy's behaviour and language on that tape", yet Trump carries on after issuing a perfunctory apology which completely ingress the fact that he was in a professional setting at the time and nowhere near a locker-room.
To their credit most of the Bush family have said they will not be voting for this buffoon and while Trump's poll ratings are taking a well-deserved hit, especially among women voters, I suspect there's much more to come in the days ahead.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37605883
Billy Bush suspended by NBC after Trump tape emerges
BBC - Entertainment & Arts
Image copyright AP Image caption - Billy Bush has said that he is "very sorry" for the 2005 remarks
US TV host Billy Bush has been suspended from NBC's Today show after a video tape emerged in which he and Donald Trump made lewd comments.
Today executive Noah Oppenheim wrote in a memo to the morning show's staff that there is "simply no excuse for Billy's language and behaviour on that tape".
Mr Bush has said he was "embarrassed and ashamed" at the remarks.
US presidential candidate Mr Trump has also apologised for the obscene comments made in the 2005 tape.
In the video, Mr Trump was on a bus talking to Mr Bush - then host of NBC's Access Hollywood - ahead of a segment they were about to record.
Mr Trump says "you can do anything" to women "when you're a star" and also brags about trying to grope and kiss women.
Mr Bush tells Mr Trump at one point "the Donald has scored" and also comments on a woman's "good legs".
US TV host Billy Bush has been suspended from NBC's Today show after a video tape emerged in which he and Donald Trump made lewd comments.
Today executive Noah Oppenheim wrote in a memo to the morning show's staff that there is "simply no excuse for Billy's language and behaviour on that tape".
Mr Bush has said he was "embarrassed and ashamed" at the remarks.
US presidential candidate Mr Trump has also apologised for the obscene comments made in the 2005 tape.
In the video, Mr Trump was on a bus talking to Mr Bush - then host of NBC's Access Hollywood - ahead of a segment they were about to record.
Mr Trump says "you can do anything" to women "when you're a star" and also brags about trying to grope and kiss women.
Mr Bush tells Mr Trump at one point "the Donald has scored" and also comments on a woman's "good legs".
Image copyrightAPImage caption - Mr Trump has said the words "don't reflect" who he is
The presenter, who is the first cousin of former President George W Bush, has since said: "It's no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago - I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along. I'm very sorry."
Top Republicans have condemned Mr Trump for the comments. His election rival Hillary Clinton called them "horrific".
The Republican party nominee has said "these words don't reflect who I am... I apologise".
Bush joined the Today team in August, having been anchor of Access Hollywood since 2009 and co-host of Access Hollywood Live since 2010.
Mr Oppenheim said that there would be a "further review" of the matter and did not say how long Mr Bush would be suspended for.
The presenter, who is the first cousin of former President George W Bush, has since said: "It's no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago - I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along. I'm very sorry."
Top Republicans have condemned Mr Trump for the comments. His election rival Hillary Clinton called them "horrific".
The Republican party nominee has said "these words don't reflect who I am... I apologise".
Bush joined the Today team in August, having been anchor of Access Hollywood since 2009 and co-host of Access Hollywood Live since 2010.
Mr Oppenheim said that there would be a "further review" of the matter and did not say how long Mr Bush would be suspended for.
