Trump denies knowledge of Daniels payment

President Donald Trump said Thursday he didn’t know about a $130,000 payment his attorney made just before the 2016 presidential election to a woman who claims to have had an extramarital affair with him. The comments, made to reporters aboard Air Force One, were the president’s first direct response to claims made by adult film star Stephanie Clifford, who goes by the stage name Stormy Daniels. The White House has consistently said Trump denies having a relationship with Clifford, who says the two had a brief affair in 2006 and continued a nonsexual relationship for a while after that. Trump was married to his current wife, Melania, at the time of the alleged affair, and their son Barron was born earlier that year. Daniels is suing to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement she signed upon receiving the $130,000 from Trump attorney Michael Cohen in the days leading up to the 2016 election. Trump said Thursday he knew nothing about the payment, where the money came from, or the reason Cohen made the payment. “You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You’ll have to ask Michael,” he said Thursday. Cohen has said he paid Daniels out of his own pocket, and that neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign had any part in the transaction or reimbursed him for the payment.