A former pageant queen claims that in a 1993 incident at a New York hotel, Donald Trump “jumped” on her and “grabbed her body everywhere.”
Beatrice Keul, 53, claimed the Daily Mail that the former president and current Republican nominee asked her to his apartment at the Plaza Hotel for a “private talk”.
She claims that her 6’1″ height and strength allowed her to fight him off.
According to the Trump team, the charges are “fake”.
Keul was working at a Swiss bank in Zurich and modeling part-time when she won second place in the Miss Switzerland 1992 pageant, which led to her participation in the final round of the Miss Europe competition in Istanbul the same year.
She then received an offer to compete in the Donald J Trump American Dream Pageant, which included an all-expense-paid trip to New York and Atlantic City.
Keul came out with the story after discovering all of the documents from her trip to New York in a box as she prepared to move. They had sat there for 30 years after she returned “very upset” after the tragedy.
She remembered being initially delighted about the trip and that Trump’s name was linked, telling the Mail: “Trump, as a brand, was quite something at the time. All of this has the potential to blind you. I didn’t realize it was a jungle there.”
On November 14, 1993, Keul flew to Atlantic City from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. Contestants were transported by bus to Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel following the tournament.
She met Trump, then 47, while he spoke with the other finalists, saying it was great to finally meet her: “He was definitely excited,” she added, noting that he mispronounced her name as “Cool” and they took a photo together.
“We spoke for so long that everyone stared at us. A good ten minutes, if not fifteen. I couldn’t believe how fond he was of me.”
After lunch, a staff member approached her and informed her Donald Trump, who owned the hotel at the time, requested a private meeting, so she was led upstairs to a suite.
“I was confident, but I went with closed eyes,” she explained. “When I entered, he jumped on me. I had just enough time to turn. I wasn’t prepared. “I tried everything I could to get rid of him.”
“He kissed my lips and neck. He attempted to lift my dress. “He was grabbing and touching my body wherever he could,” Keul explained.
“I’m really tall, which helped a lot. I am 185cm [6’1″] tall and wear 5-7cm [2-3′] shoes. I believe my stature saved me,” she stated, adding that she convinced him to slow down by saying something like “let’s talk first” in her recall to the Mail.
Trump, she claimed, before taking her hand, kissing her, and asking if she wanted to drink something and sit down.
“It was a bit Jekyll and Hyde,” she added. “I didn’t know how to react.”
Wondering how she could get out of the situation, Keul decided to be friendly, and they talked for approximately 30 minutes, with the real estate billionaire asking if she wanted to stay in the United States and offered assistance in enrolling in a New York University course.
She agreed to visit him again because she did not want any trouble. “He asked if I was mad, and I responded no. “I needed to find something diplomatic.”
“I remember he was holding me and kissing me, and he said ‘I’ll see you later’,” Keul told the Mail. “When you are among sick individuals, you must remain cool, because otherwise, something extremely awful can happen. I attempted to appear as normal as possible while lying in my responses.”
Keul recalled that it was the beginning of the pageant, and leaving would have been obvious, and she would have had to explain why.
“I was in a foreign country.” I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get home or return. I was terrified of everything, and when you’re scared, you’ll say anything to save yourself.”
Keul told the Mail her account before former Sports Illustrated model Stacey Williams alleged this week that she was groped by Trump when being taken to meet him by her then-boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein in 1993.
The former Swiss pageant queen reportedly recalls Epstein being close to Trump and attending pageant events when he attempted to get her to visit Mar-a-Lago, promising he would pay for everything.
“He was quite explicit. He stated, “You know I can take care of you.” We had several parties with Don. I take care of everything. “He was very insistent,” recalled Keul.
“He stated that he is organizing the party at Mar-a-Lago with Don.” He was clearly a henchman. I figured, if he wants me to come so badly, he wants me to do something about it.”
Keul’s testimony is supported by her friend Pascal Claivaz, a Swiss writer, who claims she told him about the incident around 2004.
The event also resembles the allegations of other women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, most notably E Jean Carroll, whom Trump was convicted guilty of sexually abusing in a New York department shop in the mid-1990s.
The Trump campaign’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told the Mail that Keul’s charges were “false” and were planted to deflect from allegations against Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff.
“Fake allegations like this are a disservice to women who are truly victims of assault, like the women in Doug Emhoff’s past,” says Levitt.