Ex-President Donald Trump was reportedly ‘concerned’ about how his wife Melania Trump would view an infamous tape of him bragging about groping women.
Trump worried about how Melania would react to the public release of an ‘Access Hollywood’ TV show recording in which he boasted about grabbing women’s genitals, testified his former press secretary Hope Hicks.
‘President Trump really values Mrs Trump’s opinion, and she doesn’t weigh in all the time, but when she does, it’s really meaningful to him,’ said Hicks on the witness stand for his hush money trial on Friday afternoon.
‘He really, really respects what she has to say. I think he was just concerned of what her perception of this would be.’
Trump was apparently also uneasy about how Melania would take news of a story published by The Wall Street Journal in 2016 about former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s claims of an affair with him.
‘He was concerned about how it would be viewed by his wife,’ Hicks said, ‘And he wanted me to make sure the newspapers weren’t delivered to the residence that morning.’
Hicks, who also served as White House communications director, was asked by the defense team in Manhattan Criminal Court if the hush money story weighed heavily on Trump.
‘Absolutely I don’t think he wanted anyone in his family to be hurt or embarrassed by anything that was happening on the campaign,’ Hicks said. ‘He wanted them to be proud of him.’
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records linked to the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 to silence her on an alleged sexual affair.
Hicks testified for nearly three hours, and at one point broke down in tears while defense attorney Emil Bove cross-examined her.
She detailed the ‘crisis’ response that Trump’s team had to the tape release as well as Trump’s involvement in responding to media.
Hicks said she has no talked to Trump since 2022. Trump looked at Hicks as she left the courtroom with a tight smile. She did not make eye contact with him.
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