Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Donald Trump told 14-year-old girls: ‘In a couple of years I’ll be dating you’

The story emerges after footage was released in which Trump predicts he will be dating a 10-year-old girl in ten years' time

Katie Forster,Benjamin Kentish
Friday 14 October 2016 07:05 BST
Comments
Donald Trump
Donald Trump (Getty Images)

Donald Trump told two teenage girls “in a couple of years I’ll be dating you” when he learned they were 14 years old, according to a major US newspaper.

The latest sleaze claim to hit Mr Trump's presidential campaign emerged soon after footage was released in which Mr Trump predicts he will be dating a 10-year-old girl in ten years’ time.

A clipping from a December 1992 edition of the daily Chicago Tribune includes a short story about Mr Trump with the headline “Such a comedian”.

The article describes a carol concert given by a youth choir that Mr Trump attended outside the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.

The Republican presidential candidate, who was 46 at the time, is said to have spoken with two of the choir girls during the event and asked them their ages.

When he learned they were 14, he said: “Wow! Just think – in a couple of years I’ll be dating you,” according to the story, which is attributed to the Chicago Tribune wires.

The newspaper tweeted a digital picture of the print clipping, which has been shared more than 800 times.

Allegations of sexism and sexual assault have followed a series of revelations from the presidential candidate’s past in which he appears to make controversial comments about women and girls.

He was forced to apologise after a video from 2005 showed him talking about grabbing women “by the p***y”.

The candidate said he was “embarrassed” by the quotes but defended them as “locker room banter” and denied he had ever sexually assaulted a woman.

And yesterday further footage was unearthed by US television network CBS News from the ‘Entertainment Tonight’ programme in the winter of 1992 – the same period as the Chicago Tribune allegation.

Trump makes crude comments in 1992 about young girl

In audio from the tape, Mr Trump can be heard asking a 10-year-old girl if she is going up an escalator inside Trump Tower in New York, to which she responds: “Yeah”.

He then turns to the camera and says: “I’m going to be dating her in 10 years. Can you believe it?”

Several women have come forward to allege they were attacked by the businessman.

Two said Mr Trump had groped them, while four others claimed he had watched them changing. More still claimed to have been attacked by Mr Trump during an interview and at a party.

Jessica Leeds, now 74, told the New York Times Mr Trump had groped her while they were travelling in the first-class cabin of a flight to New York over 30 years ago. They had not met before.

Ms Leeds alleges the billionaire groped her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt. “He was like an octopus”, she said. “His hands were everywhere.”

Another woman, Rachel Crooks, told the paper that Mr Trump had kissed her on the mouth after she introduced herself to him in Trump Tower.

Mr Trump vehemently denied the claims. He said: “None of this ever took place… I don’t do it. I don’t do it.”

He then reportedly threatened to sue the New York Times and told the reporter: “You are disgusting human being”.

A spokesman for his campaign added that the claims in the New York Times article were “absurd”.

He said: “This entire article is fiction, and for the New York Times to launch a completely false, coordinated character assassination against Mr Trump on a topic like this is dangerous.

“To reach back decades in an attempt to smear Mr Trump trivialises sexual assault, and it sets a new low for where the media is willing to go in its efforts to determine this election.”

Meanwhile four Miss Teen USA contestants told Buzzfeed Mr Trump had walked in on them changing during a 1997 beauty pageant.

Mariah Billado, the former Miss Vermont Teen USA, claimed Trump said: “Don’t worry ladies, I’ve seen it all before.” But 11 other contestants said they did not recall seeing him in the dressing room.

Mr Trump and his campaign are yet to respond to the video featuring the 10-year-old girl or other allegations. The Independent has contacted them for comment.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in