Summary
- Trump's misogynistic behavior towards women as exposed through his remarks and behaviors as a pageant owner.
- His intrusive presence in the Miss Universe dressing rooms of underage contestants sparked controversy.
- Trump's ties to Miss Universe and Russia were under scrutiny during the investigation into Russian interference in the US elections.
Donald Trump has always been vocal about his disturbing views on dating women. There's "grab them by the p**sy," as well as his comments about his daughter, Ivanka who said they never talked about sex: "She does have a very nice figure... if [she] weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her." So we'd say he was a bit polite when he told Howard Stern it was his "obligation" to invade the privacy of Miss Universe candidates.
He was referring to his years as co-owner of the pageant, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. During his Miss Universe confessions to the shock jock, the former POTUS was the perfect early Howard Stern Show guest – he was always crude, especially to women. He was also down to answer Stern's intrusive questions about his finances.
However, his pageant revelations didn't age well once he entered politics. In 2016, former Miss Teen USA contestants, as young as 14, claimed that Trump would go in and out of their changing rooms. A year later, Trump's Miss Universe was also linked to his controversial ties to Russia. Here's a closer look at his 19-year stint as a pageant owner.
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Donald Trump Said He Was "Obligated" To Inspect Miss Universe Candidates
On April 11, 2005, Stern asked Trump about a scenario behind the scenes of Miss Universe: "You own this pageant, you go over, you're meeting the girls. One of them comes up to you and says, 'Mr. Trump, you're a very sexy man.'" The latter immediately added, "'You're a beautiful man. You have fantastic hair.'" The host continued, "'You're a powerful man... I want to sleep with you.' Now, you're not the type that would say no."
"I don't want to hurt their feelings," Trump responded. Stern then asked: "Right. No, but you see a beautiful woman, you want to have that. You're a guy that likes to have everything, right?" Before the guest could answer, Robin Quivers asked, "Couldn't that be construed, however, as [conflict]?" Stern said, "I don't see it as conflict."
Trump finally replied: "[Sleeping with Miss Universe candidates] could be a conflict of interest, but you know, it's the kind of thing you worry about later."
The hosts laughed. "You tend to think about the conflict later on," added the notorious modelizer. Stern joked: "You know, some of these girls, (in possibly an Eastern European accent) 'Mr. Trump, in my country, we say hello with vagina.'" That's when Trump defended his answer, saying: "Well, you could also say as the owner of the pageant, it's your obligation to do that."
When asked if he'd actually done it, he said: "I'll tell you the funniest [thing] is that I'll go backstage before a show, and everyone is getting dressed, and ready, and everything else. And you know, no men are anywhere. And I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant. And therefore I'm inspecting it."
He said he'd ask, "Is everyone okay," while the ladies were "standing there with no clothes." He then admitted: "You see these incredible-looking women, and so I sort of get away with things like that." In 2015, WME/IMG bought Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA from Donald Trump, who owned the pageants since 1996. They're now owned by JKN Global Group, since October 2022.
JKN Global Group founder, Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip was exposed for rigging the pageants, saying women beyond the usual age limit, married women, and transwomen "can compete, but they cannot win."
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Donald Trump Often Walked In On Pageant Candidates
In 2016, Buzzfeed reported that multiple former Miss Teen USA contestants recalled Trump walking in and out of their dressing rooms. "I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, 'Oh my god, there's a man in here,'" shared 1997 Miss Vermont Teen USA, Mariah Billado. She then revealed that the businessman only said something like, "Don't worry, ladies, I've seen it all before."
Billado added: "When he started running for president, that is one of the first things I thought about: 'Oh, gross, this guy walked in on us in the pageant.'"
She said they were "just scrambling to grab stuff... whatever garments [we] had." However, 11 contestants from that year's pageants said they didn't witness any of that happen. "There were so many chaperones I can't even fathom [him doing so]," said Jessica Granata, former Miss Massachusetts Teen USA. "It was very secure."
Former Miss Wisconsin Teen USA, Allison Bowman also doubted the claims. "These were teenage girls," she argued. "If anything inappropriate had gone on, the gossip would have flown." Crystal Hughes, the former Miss Maine Teen USA, echoed Bowman's sentiments: "There was way too much security. If that was something he did, then everybody would have noticed."
Donald Trump once called Miss Universe 1996, Alicia Machado, "Miss Piggy" when she gained weight, and "Miss Housekeeping because she was Latina (Venezuelan)."
But another anonymous accuser explained: "At the time, you're a teenager, you're intimidated — it's Donald Trump, he runs the pageant." She said it felt like "it was his given right" to go in such private spaces "because he owned the pageant," which he made clear during his Howard Stern interview. She did admit, however, that they "were all very young, but even at the time, it caught us funny... As an adult and as a mother, it's absolutely inappropriate."
Billado even recalled Ivanka – who was co-hosting the pageant – commenting on Trump's intrusion, "Yeah, he does that." The former Miss Vermont Teen said: "I remember it shocking me. I barely let anybody except my sister see me getting dressed." She then said that Trump's behavior "was more of a pompous 'I own this place' rather than a perverted thing," but she "would never let [her] daughter run for a pageant that he owns."
Here are some things Trump has said about his pageant business that proves his obsession with conventional beauty:
| 1999 | "What I do is successful because of the aesthetics," he told The New York Times. "People love my buildings and my pageants." |
| 2002 | Trump said pageants would always work "because the women were so beautiful," when taking the pageants to NBC. |
| 2002 | "You don't have to spend money on sets, all you need is a beautiful curtain and the girls," he said, singling out Miss Russia for the compliment. |
| 2006 | Miss USA Tara Conner was dethroned after testing positive for cocaine. Trump gave her a second chance – "She left a small town in Kentucky, and she was telling me that she got caught up in the whirlwind of New York" – but body-shamed Rosie O'Donnell for criticizing his choice. "Rosie O'Donnell is disgusting, I mean both inside and out. Take a look at her, she's a slob. She talks like a truck driver." |
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Donald Trump's Miss Universe Was Linked To Russia's Interference In US Elections
In September 2017, The Guardian published an investigative article about Trump bringing Miss Universe to Moscow in 2013. "The pageant and the president's attempts to get close to Putin have become a focus of the investigation into Trump's links to Russian interference in the US election," read the subtitle.
They reported that investigators were "looking into the $20m fee that Trump collected for putting on the pageant from those same business partners – along with extraordinary allegations about Trump's private conduct behind closed doors at the Ritz-Carlton hotel during his 2013 stay in Moscow." In an interview, Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said:
"Our committee's investigation will not be complete unless we fully understand who President Trump met with when he was over in Russia for Miss Universe, and what follow-up contacts occurred."
While Trump's legal team called it "fake news," Senator Al Franken of Minnesota told a congressional hearing in May 2017 that "the pageant was financed by a Russian billionaire who is close to Putin. The Russians have a history of using financial investments to gain leverage over influential people and then later calling in favors. We know that."
Before heading to Moscow for the 2013 pageant, Trump notably tweeted: "Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow? If so, will he become my new best friend?" Two years later, he said in an interview: "I was with the top-level people, both oligarchs and generals, and top-of-the-government people. I can't go further than that, but I will tell you that I met the top people, and the relationship was extraordinary."
When asked about his relationship with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump said mid-campaign in July 2016: "I never met Putin. I don't know who Putin is."
