Donald Trump has reportedly tried to negotiate another hush money deal with adult film star Stormy Daniels in an attempt to secure her silence before the 2024 presidential election. According to a report, the former president’s attorneys offered to reduce the amount Daniels owed in a defamation lawsuit if she agreed not to make any “defamatory or disparaging statements” about him.
The revelations came to light in a special report by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who uncovered calls, documents, and emails related to the proposed deal. This latest attempt by Trump mirrors a previous $130,000 hush money payment made by his then-attorney Michael Cohen to Daniels in 2016 to prevent her from disclosing an alleged affair from a decade earlier.
During a special broadcast, Maddow disclosed, “Twenty days before this election, we can report that he is once again trying to pay Stormy Daniels to be quiet.” The earlier hush money payment was central to Trump’s recent criminal trial in New York, where he was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Following his criminal trial, Trump’s legal team in Florida reportedly reached out to Daniels to negotiate a settlement for the defamation lawsuit. In the letter obtained by MSNBC, Trump’s lawyers proposed settling the matter for $620,000 on the condition that Daniels refrained from making any public or private statements about her interactions with Trump or making defamatory remarks about him.
Despite the offer, Daniels declined the deal and settled the case for $627,500. Trump’s campaign spokesperson attributed the leaked documents to an “illegal foreign hacking attack” against the former president and his team.
The Independent reached out to representatives of both Trump and Daniels for further comment on the reported hush money negotiations. Stay tuned for updates on this developing story.