The President, The Porn Star And The Playboy Model

Update #4: Another reporter weighs in:

My primary beat focus is @FLOTUS. I have learned not to believe in Melania Trump coincidences. Generally speaking, her movements and decisions are thoughtful and done with intent. Schedule or no, this is an interesting day to assert independence. #take

— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) February 16, 2018

Update #3: It's that old bugaboo, "scheduling and logistics." According to Stephanie Grisham, the First Lady's communications director, "With her schedule, it was easier to meet him on the plane." I have to ask, what schedule, exactly? What exactly does Melania do all day long?

Update #2: I guess this explains it. POTUS went to Andrews via Marine One, Melania went via motorcade. It still feels off.

No comments on the Mueller indictments from President Trump as he boarded Marine One. Kelly and McGahn were spotted in Oval just before Trump departed, Kelly is on M1. pic.twitter.com/WDMdPgrntO

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) February 16, 2018

Friday afternoon update: No pictures of Melania allowed. Gee, is it possible the First Lady is once again upset with the cheater-in-chief?

Press was invited to get on Air Force One, then rushed off and hurried back inside as Melania Trump's motorcade pulled up. Some screaming from a White House press aide. No pictures allowed of first lady's arrival.

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 16, 2018

And what's with "Melania's motorcade?" Can't the President and the First Lady travel from the White House together?

Original post:
This is the top story currently at People.com: "Donald Trump Reportedly Had 9-Month Affair With Playboy Model While Married to Melania: Read the Explosive Details" (You can read them here.)

The story is based on a new article at The New Yorker titled "Donald Trump, A Playboy Model and A System For Concealing Infidelity." The model in question is named Karen McDougal and she apparently took notes:

The interactions that McDougal outlines in the document share striking similarities with the stories of other women who claim to have had sexual relationships with Trump, or who have accused him of propositioning them for sex or sexually harassing them. McDougal describes their affair as entirely consensual. But her account provides a detailed look at how Trump and his allies used clandestine hotel-room meetings, payoffs, and complex legal agreements to keep affairs—sometimes multiple affairs he carried out simultaneously—out of the press.

Like Stormy Daniels, she was also apparently paid money to keep quiet: 

On November 4, 2016, four days before the election, the Wall Street Journal reported that American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, had paid a hundred and fifty thousand dollars for exclusive rights to McDougal’s story, which it never ran. Purchasing a story in order to bury it is a practice that many in the tabloid industry call “catch and kill.” This is a favorite tactic of the C.E.O. and chairman of A.M.I., David Pecker, who describes the President as “a personal friend.” As part of the agreement, A.M.I. consented to publish a regular aging-and-fitness column by McDougal. After Trump won the Presidency, however, A.M.I.’s promises largely went unfulfilled, according to McDougal. Last month, the Journal reported that Trump’s personal lawyer had negotiated a separate agreement just before the election with an adult-film actress named Stephanie Clifford, whose screen name is Stormy Daniels, which barred her from discussing her own affair with Trump. Since then, A.M.I. has repeatedly approached McDougal about extending her contract.

Read the article here.