--- description: President Donald Trump's team reversed itself on many key questions in the affair and payoff of porn star Stormy Daniels. title: A Short History of Trump's Changing Story on Stormy Daniels image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e0e8d135f4f6da1/69892dd48fd2eedc4935b543/stormy-daniels-donald-trump-threat-sketch.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Short History of President Trump's Changing Story on the Stormy Daniels Payoff by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:33 AM CUTPublished: May 3, 2018 5:00 PM CUT  Adult film actress Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) exits the United States District Court Southern District of New York for a hearing related to Michael Cohen, President Trump's longtime personal attorney and confidante, on April 16, 2018 in New York City. Adult film actress Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) exits the United States District Court Southern District of New York for a hearing related to Michael Cohen, President Trump's longtime personal attorney and confidante, on April 16, 2018 in New York City.Drew Angerer/Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:33 AM CUTPublished: May 3, 2018 5:00 PM CUT In [an interview with Rudy Giuliani](http://time.com/5264311/rudy-giuliani-donald-trump-michael-cohen-stormy-daniels-payment/ "undefined") and a series of tweets Thursday morning, Donald Trump’s team reversed itself on some key questions of how it handled a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity, the former New York City mayor and new member of the President’s legal team admitted that Trump repaid personal attorney Michael Cohen for the $130,000 in hush money given to Daniels. Trump then essentially confirmed that account in a series of tweets. This came after weeks of denials to the contrary, including one from Trump himself. Trump continues to deny that he had an affair with Daniels. Here’s a timeline of the official line on the payments. ## Feb. 13: Cohen says he paid the $130,000 and was not reimbursed In response to a complaint to the Federal Election Commission that the payment violated campaign finance law, Cohen [sent a statement to reporters](http://time.com/5158096/donald-trump-porn-star-stormy-daniels-payment-michael-cohen/ "undefined") claiming that he paid out his own pocket and was not reimbursed. --- > “” --- ## Feb. 14: Cohen again says he was not reimbursed In [an interview with _Vanity Fair_](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/michael-cohen-stormy-daniels-trump-lawyer-interview "undefined") published on Feb. 14, Cohen said that he paid the $130,000 from his own pocket and was not reimbursed by either the Trump campaign or the Trump organization. --- > “” --- ## March 7: White House says Trump did not know about the payment Speaking at [the daily press briefing](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/press-briefing-press-secretary-sarah-sanders-030718/ "undefined"), White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Trump did not know about any payments to Stormy Daniels, citing a conversation she’d had with him. --- > “” --- ## April 5: Trump says he did not know about the payment Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump [said curtly](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/04/06/trump%5Fi%5Fknew%5Fnothing%5Fabout%5Fcohens%5F130000%5Fpayment%5Fto%5Fstormy%5Fdaniels.html "undefined") that he did not know about the payment, referring questions to Cohen. --- > “” --- ## April 26: Trump says no campaign funds went to Cohen In a phone interview with “Fox and Friends,” Trump says that [no campaign funds went to Cohen](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-for-first-time-that-cohen-represented-him-in-stormy-daniels-case/2018/04/26/43c48962-4951-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.cca611285791 "undefined") for the payment. It was the first time Trump publicly used Daniels’ name. --- > “” --- ## May 2: Giuliani says Trump reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Giuliani said that Trump [personally reimbursed Cohen](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/us/politics/rudy-giuliani-stormy-daniels-transcript.html "undefined") for the money in installments as a monthly retainer. --- > “” --- ## May 2: Giuliani says Cohen was reimbursed for as much as $470,000 In [a follow-up interview with the New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/us/politics/trump-michael-cohen-stormy-daniels-giuliani.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=a-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news "undefined"), Giuliani said that Cohen was reimbursed for the Stormy Daniels payment as well as other “incidental expenses,” adding up to a total of $460,000 or $470,000. --- > “” --- ## May 3: Trump tweets that he reimbursed Cohen In a series of tweets, Trump confirmed that he kept Cohen on a monthly retainer which reimbursed him for the non-disclosure agreement, but argued that no campaign money was used. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/991992302267785216) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/991994433750142976) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/991995845120753664) ## May 4: Trump says Giuliani didn’t get his ‘facts straight’ [Speaking to reporters](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-marine-one-departure-6/ "undefined") before boarding Marine One, Trump said that Giuliani [got some of his facts wrong](http://time.com/5265703/donald-trump-rudy-giuliani-stormy-daniels/ "undefined") when speaking about the Daniels payment and promised a statement would come shortly. --- > “” --- ## May 4: Giuliani says he was wrong about when Trump knew about the payments In a [statement issued to reporters](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/giuliani-believes-5050-chance-mueller-subpoenas-president-trump/story?id=54923079&cid=social%5Ftwitter%5Fabcn "undefined"), Giuliani said that the payments were made to resolve a “personal and false allegation” and that his “references to timing” were about his understanding and not Trump’s. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5264555/donald-trump-statements-stormy-daniels-payoff/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5264555/donald-trump-statements-stormy-daniels-payoff/"},"headline":"A Short History of President Trump's Changing Story on the Stormy Daniels Payoff","datePublished":"2018-05-03T17:00:33.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T11:33:49.000Z","description":"Trump continues to deny that he had an affair","url":"https://time.com/5264555/donald-trump-statements-stormy-daniels-payoff/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Campaign Finance","rudy giuliani","michael cohen","stormy daniels"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e0e8d135f4f6da1/69892dd48fd2eedc4935b543/stormy-daniels-donald-trump-threat-sketch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0e0e8d135f4f6da1/69892dd48fd2eedc4935b543/stormy-daniels-donald-trump-threat-sketch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump's Personal Lawyer Michael Cohen Appears For Court Hearing Related To FBI Raid On His Hotel Room And Office","caption":"Trump's Personal Lawyer Michael Cohen Appears For Court Hearing Related To FBI Raid On His Hotel Room And Office","creditText":"Drew Angerer/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5264555/donald-trump-statements-stormy-daniels-payoff/","name":"A Short History of President Trump's Changing Story on the Stormy Daniels Payoff"}}]}] ```