--- title: Former Playboy Model Free to Discuss Alleged Trump Affair description: Karen McDougal has been released from a contract that had prohibited her from talking about an alleged affair with President Trump canonical: https://time.com/5245766/karen-mcdougal-donald-trump-affair-settlement/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-18T22:47:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:06:45.735Z article:section: Politics og:title: Former Playboy Model Now Free to Discuss Alleged Trump Affair After Settlement og:description: "I am relieved to be able to tell the truth about my story," Karen McDougal said og:url: https://time.com/5245766/karen-mcdougal-donald-trump-affair-settlement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad36267f90631932/69892e090a4a2207b99d2751/karen-mcdougal-trump-affair-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1994 og:image:height: 1122 og:image:alt: 2008 Super Bowl - Playboy's Super Saturday Night Party og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Former Playboy Model Now Free to Discuss Alleged Trump Affair After Settlement twitter:description: "I am relieved to be able to tell the truth about my story," Karen McDougal said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad36267f90631932/69892e090a4a2207b99d2751/karen-mcdougal-trump-affair-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Former Playboy Model Now Free to Discuss Alleged Trump Affair After Settlement > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=bc2b13db-8b99-4883-b521-8b5c46a68308&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Former Playboy Model Karen McDougal Says Trump Tried to Pay Her After Sex [Watch (HLS stream): Former Playboy Model Karen McDougal Says Trump Tried to Pay Her After Sex](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/X04o1WSP.m3u8) (1:50)  _Published 2018-03-23. A former Playboy model apologized to First Lady Melania Trump for a 10-month affair she claims she had with President Donald Trump that started with him offering her money after the first time they had sex._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 18, 2018 10:47 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 18, 2018 10:47 PM UTC A settlement agreement reached Wednesday between American Media Inc. and former Playboy model [Karen McDougal](http://time.com/5212084/playboy-model-karen-mcdougal-donald-trump-affair/) has released her from a contract that had prohibited her from talking about an [affair with President Donald Trump that she is alleged to have had](http://time.com/5162564/trump-karen-mcdougal-new-yorker/). American Media Inc., which owns the National Enquirer, [paid McDougal $150,000](http://time.com/4559610/donald-trump-national-enquirer-karen-mcdougal/) in 2016 for the exclusive rights to her story, but then never ran it. McDougal filed a lawsuit last month to invalidate the contract, which she said she was “misled into signing.” The settlement means the company avoids discovery phase of litigation in which its staff would have had to answer questions under oath about its practices. “My goal from the beginning was to restore my rights and not to achieve any financial gain, and this settlement does exactly that,” McDougal said in a statement Wednesday. “I am relieved to be able to tell the truth about my story when asked, and I look forward to being able to return to my private life and focus on what matters to me.” McDougal said she had a 10-month affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007, while he was married to his wife, Melania. Trump is also facing a lawsuit from adult film star [Stormy Daniels](http://time.com/5220087/donald-trump-underestimated-stormy-daniels/), who said she had a consensual sexual relationship with him in 2006 and received a $130,000 payment from Trump’s personal attorney, [Michael Cohen](http://time.com/5237454/donald-trump-relied-on-michael-cohen-to-weather-the-storm/), days before the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet about the alleged affair. Trump has [denied](http://time.com/5230105/donald-trump-stormy-daniels-payout/) both affairs. ## Transcript How did you meet Donald Trump? I met Donald when they were filming the Celebrity Apprentice at the Playboy Mansion. They were filming there and I was hired as one of the Playmates to work at the pool party scene, it was quite Fun actually. Tell me about your first date. Our first date I was told we were going to go to the Beverly Hills Hotel together for dinner So he had told me that Keith has bodyguard who was going to pick me up at a certain time and he did. And then, we were driving over to the Beverly Hills Hotel and Keith drove around to the back and he said, we have to get out here because we don't wanna walk through the hotel. And at that minute, I'm thinking to myself, are we going to a room? Because I thought we were having dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel. In the actual restaurant. Right, well we did have dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel, but in his bungalow instead. We had dinner there for a few hours, we talked for a few hours. We had a great time, we were getting to know each other. We were talking about his birthday, and then. As the night ended we were intimate. After we had been intimate he tried to pay me and I actually didn't know how to take that. Did he actually try to hand you money? He did, he did and I said, I mean I just had this look of, I don't know, just I don't even know how to describe the look in my face must have been so sad because, I had never been offered money like that before [ UNKNOWN ] number one. But number two, I thought, does he think that I am in this for money or why I am here tonight or is this a normal thing, I didn't know but I looked at him and I said, that's not me, I am not that kind of girl. And he said you are really special. And I was like thank you. So I left, I actually got into the car for kids to take me home and I started crying. And i was really sad and that really hurt me. Did I see him quite a few times, quite a bit? Absolutely. We spent a lot of time together. Were you attracted to him? I was attracted to him. Yeah. He is a nice looking man and like just charisma I think I love good great posture, he's got a great posture and He was nice. So the sex was concentual, just to be clear. 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