All of Donald Trump’s marriages, affair rumours and sexual misconduct allegations

Whether you like it or not, Donald Trump has just won the US election and will soon become the 47th President of the United States. As a convicted felon, who denied the results of the 2020 election, this is a blow to democracy. But equally, as someone that has previously gloated about grabbing women “by the p**sy” and who is intent on rolling back abortion rights, his premiership will be catastrophic for feminism.

The former reality TV star and business mogul has always had somewhat of a playboy reputation. It is something that he has cultivated through his courtship of models and hiring stunning staff, including a former beauty queen as his secretary. Trump, 78, even owned the beauty pageant Miss Universe in 1996 to 2016. According to biographer Wayne Barrett, ‘The Donald’ even once tried to get Playboy to do a spread called ‘The Girls of Trump’ which would showcase his female staff in seductive poses.

The President Elect has had three wives, but he has also been accused by at least 26 women of sexual misconduct since 1970. From his marriages, affair rumours and the allegations against him, we take a deep dive into Donald Trump and his relationships with women…

Ivana Trump

Ivana Trump was Donald Trump’s first wife and a key player in his early empire. The Czech-American model and socialite moved to the U.S in the 1970s, meeting Donald in 1976 during a night out with a group of friends. In her memoir Raising Trump, she recalled their first encounter, noting how he played it cool with “no funny stuff,” sensing that flirting wouldn’t win her over.

The two married in 1977, quickly becoming one of New York’s power couples and making headlines throughout the eighties as glamorous fixtures of high society. Ivana wasn’t just arm candy; she was a driving force at The Trump Organization, managing properties like the Plaza Hotel and securing her place in Donald’s business world. Together, they had three children—Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric—before scandal rocked their marriage.
Their high-profile split in 1990, after Ivana discovered Donald’s affair with model Marla Maples.

Following the divorce, Ivana embraced her independence, launching fashion and beauty lines and authoring self-help books and columns. She continued to be a public figure until her passing in 2022 at age 73.

Marla Maples

Donald Trump’s affair with model Marla Maples was the scandal of the early ‘90s, shattering his marriage to Ivana. The secret romance came to light during a dramatic ski trip in Aspen, where Ivana reportedly confronted Marla in a clash that became legendary in gossip circles. Maples famously declared Trump was “the best sex I’ve ever had,” a line that blazed across headlines.

Ivana was distraught at the time, telling Vanity Fair: “The children are all wrecks. Ivanka now comes home from school crying, ‘Mommy, does it mean I’m not going to be Ivanka Trump anymore?’ Little Eric asks me, ‘Is it true you are going away and not coming back?'”

After Ivana and Trump’s 1992 divorce, he and Marla went public, marrying in 1993 and welcoming daughter Tiffany. But the passion faded fast, and they split by 1997, leaving Marla as yet another chapter in Trump’s ever-dramatic love life.

Melania Trump

However, Trump being Trump he was not single for long. In 1998, the year before his divorce was finalised he met a model called Melania Knauss, who is soon to be the First Lady once more. The prolific businessman was introduced to the Slovenian-born model at a New York Fashion Week party which he had actually attended with Norwegian heiress Celina Midelfart on his arm.

While she was in the bathroom Trump made his move on Melania, asking her for her number. The former supermodel explained what happened next in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 2016: “He wanted my number, but he was with a date, so of course I didn’t give it to him. I said, ‘I am not giving you my number; you give me yours, and I will call you.’ I wanted to see what kind of number he would give me — if it was a business number, what is this? I’m not doing business with you.”

As it turns out, Trump gave her all of his numbers, including his office at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, his home number in New York, and more. The pair dated on and off before marrying in January 2005. The following year, she gave birth to their only child, Barron Trump.

Stormy Daniels

In 2006, shortly after his wedding to Melania, adult film actress Stormy Daniels alleges that she had an affair with Donald Trump. Years later, as Trump geared up for the 2016 presidential race, Stormy claimed she received a $130,000 payment through Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, to stay silent about the affair.

When the hush money arrangement was uncovered in 2018, it sparked a major scandal that Trump’s team claimed was to avoid “campaign distractions.” However, Cohen later testified that it was a move to influence the election, leading to significant legal scrutiny of the payment and Trump’s subsequent business record entries, which allegedly concealed the payout.

On May 30, Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over the payment – making him the first former president in history convicted of a crime. With Trump set to return to office, Stormy is understandably upset. On Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, the star said: “How is someone who’s found guilty or even charged with so many crimes even allowed to run for a political office?”

Karen McDougal

Playboy model Karen McDougal alleged that she also had an affair with Trump which started in June 2006, just three months after Barron was born. This was reported in The Wall Street Journal which also reported that American Media, Inc. (AMI), the owner of the National Enquirer – had paid Karen $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story, but never published it.

Many have speculated this was to stop the story, but AMI claimed that it had paid the amount to Karen not “to kill damaging stories about” Trump, but for “exclusive life rights to any relationship she has had with a then-married man” and “two years’ worth of her fitness columns and magazine covers”.

Although Karen has never confirmed the affair, which of course Donald Trump denies ever having taken place, she has spoken about how she regretted signing the agreement. “It took my rights away,” she told journalist Ronan Farrow. “I don’t know what I’m allowed to talk about. I’m afraid to even mention his name.”

Sexual misconduct allegations

In recent years, several women have come forward with allegations of sexual assault or sexual impropriety against Trump. During his presidential campaign in 2016, Jessica Leeds, told the New York Times that when she was sat next to Trump on a flight in the early 1980s he had “grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt”. She claimed the now President-Elect was “like an octopus” and “his hands were everywhere.” Trump has denied this.

In 2019, columnist E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump emphatically denies this allegation, too. However, in May 2023, a jury found Donald Trump liable Tuesday for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in a judgment. He was also found liable for defamation, and a jury last year ordered him to pay $83.3 million in damages. Trump has already appealed the first verdict and has vowed to appeal the second.

In 2016, People magazine’s Natasha Stoynoff alleged that Trump “shoved” his tongue “down her throat” after pushing her against a wall at Mar-a-Lago in 2005. Natasha had been there to interview him and the very-pregnant Melania. Trump claimed he had never met her and the story was “FAKE NEWS” despite a photograph of the journalist with him and Melania being made public.

Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice, a show which Trump was the star of, also claimed that in 2007, he “very aggressively” kissed and groped her and was “thrusting” his genitals at her at The Beverly Hills Hotel. She sued Trump, who denied her allegations, and she dropped the case in 2021.
Miss USA and Miss Universe Universe contestants have also claimed that in 2006, Trump harassed and grabbed them without consent, again something Trump has denied.

Despite all of this, Melania Trump has stood by her husband throughout, and although they are rumoured to lead separate lives, she was by his side last night when the results came flooding in. The President-Elect paused his victory speech in Florida to kiss his wife on the cheek, telling his followers: “I just wanted to thank her.”