A former model has accused Donald Trump of groping her during a 1993 visit to Trump Tower in New York City after they were introduced by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Stacey Williams told U.K. publication The Guardian she believed the groping was part of a “twisted game” between Trump and Epstein that made her feel “like a piece of meat.”
Representatives from the Trump campaign denied the allegations and accused his political rival, U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, of inventing the story in an attempt to sabotage Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.
Williams, 56, made the allegations against Trump, 78, on Monday during a phone call organized by the group Survivors for Kamala, a coalition of advocacy organizations and people who have faced sexual abuse and gender discrimination.
Williams said she’d briefly dated Epstein in the early 1990s. Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges, allegedly introduced Williams to Trump at a Christmas party in 1992. She said Trump and Epstein appeared to be “really, really good friends and spent a lot of time together.”
While out on a walk in New York City in 1993, Williams said Epstein suggested paying Trump a visit at Trump Tower.
Upon meeting, Williams said Trump touched “all over my breasts, my waist, my butt” without her consent. She said she was “deeply confused” by the interaction and alleged Trump and Epstein smiled at each other throughout the groping.
She said Epstein “berated” her after the interaction and demanded to know why she’d allowed Trump to touch her.
“He made me feel so disgusting and I remember being so utterly confused,” she recalled. “I had this horrible pit in my stomach that it was somehow orchestrated.”
The former model provided The Guardian photographs of a Mar-a-Lago postcard she said was sent to her by Trump. Written in black marker — the preferred writing tool of the former U.S. president — the message reads, “Stacey – Your home away from home. Love Donald.”
Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Williams’ allegations are untrue.
“These accusations, made by a former activist for Barack Obama and announced on a Harris campaign call two weeks before the election, are unequivocally false,” the statement reads. “It’s obvious this fake story was contrived by the Harris campaign.”
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Williams is not the only person to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct. He’s faced more than 20 claims of assault from women who say Trump kissed them without consent and groped their bodies, among other allegations.
The former model said she did not accuse Trump of sexual misconduct earlier because she left the entertainment world and is now a private person. She said she feared retaliation against her family from Trump’s staunch supporters. She has, however, written on social media about Trump allegedly groping her.
Williams said she had no knowledge of Epstein’s long history of sexual abuse and trafficking. Trump has also denied being aware of Epstein’s sexual crimes. When Epstein was arrested in 2019, Trump told reporters they hadn’t spoken in 15 years, adding, “I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you.”
Survivors for Kamala took out a full-page ad in The New York Times on Monday, encouraging Americans to vote for Harris over Trump. The ad said Trump is a “proven abuser.”
“With voting already underway in the 2024 election, we come together to remind you that Donald J. Trump was found liable for sexual abuse in a court of law,” the ad reads.
Survivors for Kamala referenced Trump’s civil case against columnist E. Jean Carroll, whom he was found liable of sexually abusing in 1996. He was ordered to pay Carroll US$5 million in 2023 for defaming her, then another US$83 million this year.
The New York Times ad letter was signed by 200 survivors of sexual abuse and allies “from across the political spectrum.”
Americans will cast their presidential votes on Nov. 5 in what is expected to be a tight race between Harris and Trump.