--- 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: 2026-02-23T20:01:07.581Z 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, three times 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.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 18, 2018 10:47 PM UTC  Playmate Karen McDougal attends the Playboy's Super Saturday Night Party during Super Bowl Weekend on Feb. 2, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. Playmate Karen McDougal attends the Playboy's Super Saturday Night Party during Super Bowl Weekend on Feb. 2, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic  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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5245766/karen-mcdougal-donald-trump-affair-settlement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5245766/karen-mcdougal-donald-trump-affair-settlement/"},"headline":"Former Playboy Model Now Free to Discuss Alleged Trump Affair After Settlement","datePublished":"2018-04-18T22:47:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:01:07.581Z","description":"\"I am relieved to be able to tell the truth about my story,\" Karen McDougal said","url":"https://time.com/5245766/karen-mcdougal-donald-trump-affair-settlement/","keywords":["Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad36267f90631932/69892e090a4a2207b99d2751/karen-mcdougal-trump-affair-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad36267f90631932/69892e090a4a2207b99d2751/karen-mcdougal-trump-affair-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2008 Super Bowl - Playboy's Super Saturday Night Party","caption":"2008 Super Bowl - Playboy's Super Saturday Night Party","creditText":"Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic","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/5245766/karen-mcdougal-donald-trump-affair-settlement/","name":"Former Playboy Model Now Free to Discuss Alleged Trump Affair After Settlement"}}]}] ```