A former Fox News anchor has claimed Donald Trump tried to kiss her in a lift in Trump Tower around the same time as he married his current wife and First Lady, Melania Trump.
Juliet Huddy, who now hosts a radio show on a US station, said the incident took place after a lunch meeting with the businessman in either 2005 or 2006. Mr Trump married his third wife, Melania Knauss, in January 2005 in Florida.
Ms Huddy made the claims in a podcast called “Mornin!!! With Bill Schulz”.
She said: “He took me for lunch at Trump Tower, just us two. He said goodbye to me in an elevator while his security guy was there, rather than kiss me on the cheek he leaned in to kiss me on the lips. I wasn’t offended, I was kind of like, ‘Oh my god’."
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Many women have accused the US President of making unwanted advances towards them, which Mr Trump has consistently denied.
Ms Huddy said that she did not feel threatened or offended by the reality star during the incident which took place in the Trump organisation’s 58 storey headquarters.
“I was surprised that he went for the lips. But I didn’t feel threatened… he took me out to lunch to talk about maybe me doing something with ‘The Apprentice.’ He used to watch ‘Fox & Friends,’ the show I was hosting on the weekend. Whatever, everything was fine. It was a weird moment. He never tried anything after that, and I was never alone with him,” she explained.
She later confirmed the revelation reported by the New York Post's Page Six column, tweeting: "Re: Page Six story: Yes, it's true. And though I'm offended by his comments on 'other matters' - as I said on @77WABCradio& @BillSchulz's show yesterday - I was neither threatened nor offended in elevator. End of story. Now, plz let me get back to @TheCrownNetflix."
Re: @PageSix story: Yes, it's true. And though I'm offended by his comments on 'other matters' - as I said on @77WABCradio & @BillSchulz's show yesterday - I was neither threatened nor offended in elevator. End of story. Now, plz let me get back to @TheCrownNetflix.
— Juliet Huddy (@JetSetJuliet) December 9, 2017
The 48-year-old said Mr Trump had later made a joke about the attempt when he appeared on her television show.
She added: “Trump was a guest and he came on stage. He said, to the audience and producers, not on camera, ‘I tried hitting on her but she blew me off.’ He was laughing.”
Ms Huddy’s claims have been supported by Julie Roginsky, a former Fox News contributor, who took to Twitter to defend her former colleague from accusations she had made up the incident.
For all those who are doubting @JulietHuddyTV’s story, please stop. She told me this story many years ago, well before Trump was running for anything. She has absolutely no agenda other than the truth here.
— Julie Roginsky (@julieroginsky) December 9, 2017
“For all those who are doubting Juliet Huddy's story, please stop. She told me this story many years ago, well before Trump was running for anything. She has absolutely no agenda other than the truth here,” Ms Roginsky said.
The White House has not yet commented on the claim.
