Trump falsely presents Stormy Daniels letter as new in Truth Social post | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
Updated ·3 min read
97

The claim: Stormy Daniels letter denying affair with Trump was 'just found'

An April 10 Truth Social post (direct link, archive link) from former President Donald Trump shows an official statement signed by porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump's caption says, "Look what was just found! Will the fake news report it?"

In the statement, dated Jan. 30, 2018, Daniels denies having an affair with Trump.

Trump's post garnered more than 20,000 likes in nine days. Other versions of the claim were shared on Facebook, such as claims that Daniels exonerated Trump.

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Our rating: False

The letter is not new. It was signed and published in January 2018 and has been covered widely by various media outlets in the years since. Describing this letter as "exonerating" significantly overreaches since Daniels later said the denial was a "lie" and was signed out of fear of legal repercussions.

Signed statement released in 2018

Trump is the first former president to stand trial in a criminal case, as he's accused of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Jury selection for the trial was completed April 19.

The letter shown in the Truth Social post is not a piece of new evidence, as the former president claims. USA TODAY previously debunked a similar claim that the letter was new in March 2023.

The letter reads in part, "Over the past few weeks I have been asked countless times to comment on reports of an alleged sexual relationship I had with Donald Trump many, many, many years ago. ... I am not denying this affair because I was paid 'hush money' as has been reported in overseas owned tabloids. I am denying this affair because it never happened."

The statement was signed on Jan. 30, 2018, as can be seen in Trump's post, and it was widely reported on at the time.

In an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! the following day, Daniels said she didn't know where the letter had come from and suggested the signature didn't resemble her own. But hours after the interview, Daniels' spokeswoman Gina Rodriguez told The Washington Post that she and an attorney had witnessed Daniels signing the letter days before.

In a March 2018 interview with Anderson Cooper, Daniels said the denial was a "lie" and explained that she had felt pressured to sign the statement out of fear of legal percussions caused by the non-disclosure agreement she'd signed.

Fact check: Judge didn't deny Trump request to skip hush money trial for son's graduation

Daniels has not denied the hush money payment in the years since and is expected to testify at Trump's trial.

USA TODAY reached out to Trump's team for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact, Snopes and The Associated Press debunked similar claims.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump falsely claims Stormy Daniels letter 'just found' | Fact check

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