Natasha Stoynoff has a story to tell. It is not very pretty, but then again, what was done to her by one of the most powerful men in the world was not very pretty. She considers herself and other women to be the “proverbial canaries in the coal mine.”
She took up boxing, and her punches were somewhere between “hospitalization and murder,” according to Norman Mailer. In 2005, she flew to Mar-a-Lago to interview Donald Trump. Melania Trump had left the room for a moment to change for the photoshoot.
He told her that he wanted to “show her something.”
The Atlantic magazine writer began her article describing rape, sexual attacks, and frustration with a system that frees powerful men like Trump:
”E. Jean Carroll accused Donald Trump of rape, in a Bergdorf’s dressing room in the mid-1990s. After the president denied ever meeting her and dismissed her story as a Democratic plot, she sued him for defamation. Carroll was not, of course, the first woman to say that Trump had sexually harassed or assaulted her, but unlike so many other powerful men, the president has remained unscathed by the #MeToo reckoning.’
The Atlantic article continued, delving into the stunning Access Hollywood video where the US president said:
‘in the Access Hollywood tape. “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them, it’s like a magnet … And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy.”‘
Then, The Atlantic asked:
‘Who are the people who came forward to say that Trump treated them exactly as he described: as fungible collections of body parts to paw at whenever it suited his purposes? Why did the women decide to tell their stories, and what has life been like since? Carroll’s lawsuit remains in progress.’
Trump and Stoynoff went into another room, and in the next moment, the wealthy man slammed her up against the wall and his tongue down her throat. In retrospect, she imagined she “delivers a sweet little uppercut …just under his heart.” Then, she landed her trademark “powder puff,” which was no powder puff. He slid to the floor and “flops on the marble before being carried away by the butler.”
Stoynoff is “100 percent Eastern Bloc, honey!” Her father’s ancestor was “a 6-foot 7-inch Macedonian revolutionary:”
‘[M]y whole family are like giants.’
In actuality, the strong 5 foot 11 woman did go to a Mar-a-Lago patio. Stoynoff was there to interview the couple about their upcoming first anniversary and Melania Trump’s seven-month pregnancy.
The New York magazine writer Alyssa Shelasky interviewed Stoynoff about a play The Pussy Grabber Plays that was running in Manhattan, New York. The play included Stoynff’s story:
‘Stoynoff was my mentor when I worked at People magazine, about 10 years ago. She was the brilliant, hilarious, confident, and warm writer who got all the good assignments because Larry Hackett, the editor in chief at the time, knew she was the best.’
Back a Mar-a-Lago, the interviewer said about Trump:
‘He’s got his one sentence ready for you. If you want something deeper, that’s a challenge. Because he doesn’t do deep…He says he wants to show me a room—”the beautiful, tremendous room’—or something in the room.”‘
The Stoynoff interviewer asked her:
‘It didn’t occur to you that going into a room alone with Donald Trump was stupid?’
The question appeared to surprise Stoynoff:
‘No” (taken aback). Not at all! I mean (laughing in disbelief)/ I just … I mean, no!’
Her interviewer had been attacked by Trump, too:
‘”It didn’t occur to me either,” I say. Indeed, I walked right into that Bergdorf’s dressing room like an idiot.’
Stoynoff now writes novels and screenplays. She said:
‘I remember it being a dark room. But there are windows, so not too dark. We go in. I’m looking around, wondering what he wants to show me. I hear the door close. (She points behind herself.) I turn around. And— (She presses her hand to her chest.) He’s right at me, pushing me against the wall.’
Shelasky asked her:
‘Do you recall him grinding against you?
‘Natasha frowns and leans into the Zoom screen.“Riding?” “Grinding.” Stoynoff is repulsed: Grinding. Oh God! That is a question I never thought I’d hear.’
She went on:
‘I think my hands went up immediately. (She demonstrates by holding her hands, palms out, at shoulder level.) So there wasn’t space.’
Reports vary on how many women have accused the man who occasionally sits in the Oval Office:
‘Nineteen, or 25, or 43 women have come forward to accuse Trump of ogling, grabbing, groping, mauling, or raping them. The women say they dodged, ran, froze, ducked, resisted, or laughed at him; and we all stood up, spoke out, got dragged through the mud, belittled, and besmirched. Natasha calls us the “whistleblowers.” She wrote a blistering op-ed in The Washington Post last November pointing out how it is women who warned the world what to expect from Trump.’
Stoynoff continues with her story, corroborated by six others:
‘And the butler says, ‘Melania’s on her way down,” and he leads us outside back to our original positions on the couch on the patio. And after we sit down and the butler leaves, Trump says (she lowers her voice) “You know we’re going to have an affair.”‘
She separated her emotions from her work. It was and still is what many women do:
‘Natasha has become People’s Trump person. She attends Donald and Melania’s wedding reception, covers all the Apprentice stuff, and wants to do her best with the anniversary story.’
She told a colleague at the time, then continued:
‘I was embarrassed and ashamed by what happened. I wanted the whole awful incident to go away. I didn’t want to cause problems.’
Trump denied all allegations.
A united cry rose up from Twitter as Trump’s attacks were revealed. Check out what some Americans had to say below:
Lots of talk about Trump’s ‘faith’ and ‘respect for women’ tonight. Let’s roll the tape! #CreepyTrump pic.twitter.com/KD2TKTO391
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) August 26, 2020
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
