New Donald Trump-Stormy Daniels Allegations: What We Know

Donald Trump has allegedly tried to make a new deal to keep Stormy Daniels quiet about any past “interactions”—this time by reportedly offering to reduce the money she owes him.
Trump is awaiting sentencing on 34 counts of falsifying records relating to hush money payments made to the former adult film star 11 days before the 2016 U.S. election.
Daniels owes Trump more than $600,000 in legal fees over a failed defamation suit in 2018.
On Wednesday, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow reported that Trump’s lawyer allegedly tried to organize a financial incentive by reducing what Daniels owes if she agreed not to talk about the Republican candidate before the 2024 presidential election.
Trump’s attorney had contacted Daniels for—in Maddow’s words—both sides to work a deal where they would “pretend that Stormy Daniels owed less money to Trump than they actually believed she owed.”
By seeking less money that he was actually due, Trump was again trying to make “another hush money deal” with Daniels, Maddow alleged.
Newsweek sought comment by email on Thursday from attorneys for Trump and Daniels.
MSNBC reviewed documents and calls made to Daniels’ lawyer before making the allegations.
However, it is common legal practice to settle lawsuits and legal costs for less than the full amount and confidentiality is often built into such agreements.
The exact amount Daniels owes is not known, but Maddow said Trump’s side put the figure at $652,000, while Daniels’ argued it was closer to $600,000.
Maddow shared an image of an email allegedly sent by Trump’s lawyer to Daniels’ attorney.
Trump’s lawyer allegedly offered to settle Daniels’ outstanding legal fee balance for $620,000 if Daniels agreed “in writing to make no public or private statements related to any alleged past interactions with President Trump, or defamatory or disparaging statements about him, his business and/or any affiliates or his suitability as a candidate for president.”
Daniels’ attorney allegedly offered to settle for $635,000 without any confidentiality agreement in place. Maddow said both sides agreed to settle the case at $627,500, without Daniels having to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung told MSNBC the “purported documents were attained as part of an illegal foreign hacking attack against President Trump and his team.”
Cheung said the Trump team was “working with authorities to determine the legal repercussions for those likely committing Federal offenses by posting and utilizing stolen material by a terror by terror regime adversaries.”
Maddow said on the show that the documents were obtained directly from Daniels’ legal team.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, went on trial in New York City on 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to hush money paid to former adult film actor Daniels.
She claims she and Trump had sex in 2006 and that she accepted $130,000 in hush money from his former lawyer Michael Cohen prior to the 2016 election. Cohen was later jailed after pleading guilty to multiple charges of tax evasion and breaking campaign finance rules.
Newsweek also sought comment by email on Thursday from Cohen, who had no part in this latest transaction.
Trump has denied any sexual involvement with Daniels, who gave an interview to CBS News in 2018.
On May 30, a jury convicted him on all 34 counts and he is due to be sentenced on November 26 before New York Superior Court judge, Justice Juan Merchan.
The New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals is considering Trump’s request to have the sentencing transferred to federal court.
His lawyers want the case transferred so that Trump can claim presidential immunity, according to the court filings.