Natasha Stoynoff (2005)
Canadian author and journalist Natasha Stoynoff, who wrote for People magazine and, previously, the Toronto Star and Toronto Sun, went to
Trump's Florida estate in December 2005 to interview him and his wife, Melania. While there,
Trump gave Stoynoff a tour of the Mar-a-Lago estate. She says that during this tour, he pushed her against a wall and forced his tongue into her mouth.[3][74]
Stoynoff described the alleged episode, "We walked into that room alone, and
Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat ... I was stunned. And I was grateful when
Trump's longtime butler burst into the room a minute later, as I tried to unpin myself."[76] Stoynoff composed herself and conducted the interview,[3] after which she said Trump repeatedly told her, "We're going to have an affair, I'm telling you."[74][76] Melania was also interviewed for that article.[76]
Trump sent out a tweet on October 13, 2016, in which he said it had not happened and wondered why she had not mentioned the event in her People article of 2005.[3] Stoynoff responded that she had become angry when
Trump denied assaulting women during the presidential debate and was triggered by the release of the Access Hollywood recording in early October. Until that point, she said, she had conflicting emotions common among victims of assault, combined with embarrassment and confusion. J.D. Heyman, People's deputy editor, said: "It was disorienting for her. She felt a great deal of worry and distress about it. Then she felt angry."[102]
That same day, Melania's lawyer demanded an apology from People magazine, stating that Melania did not say some or all of what was quoted in the People article by Stoynoff published on October 12, 2016; Melania specifically denied Stoynoff's claim that she'd run into her on Fifth Avenue following the article's publication.[103] In an interview with Anderson Cooper that aired October 17 on CNN, Melania again denied having crossed paths with Stoynoff on Fifth Avenue, as stated in Stoynoff's article. The following day, People published the account of Liza Herz. Herz said she witnessed the sidewalk encounter between Stoynoff and Melania
Trump; Herz' account corroborated that of Stoynoff.[104]
On October 18, People produced six corroborating witnesses who said Stoynoff had recounted the incident to them around the time it occurred.[104] The six witnesses were: "two editors from People, Mary Green and Liz McNeil; a professor of journalism, Paul McLaughlin; a co-worker; and two personal friends of Ms. Stoynoff".[105]
Trump's former butler at Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Anthony Senecal, 85, was asked about the 2005 incident in which Stoynoff alleged that the butler had "burst in" on
Trump while she was pinned down by him; Senecal denied it ever happened, stating that as a butler "I don't burst in. I knock, then I go in, usually after someone says 'come in'," further alleging "And when I went in, there was nothing strange about where she was standing."[106][107] According to Senecal, the alleged incident took place in an old massage room with windows all around which made it unsuitable to grope anyone since there was no privacy