Teflon Trump?: The tale of Ms Daniels and Mr T

The women who have accused US President Donald Trump of sexual misbehaviour are driven by “fame, money and politics”.

That’s what Mr Trump says, and if anyone knows a great deal about the obsession with fame, money and politics, it’s the 45th president of the United States. What isn’t known, so far, is whether or not Ms Stephanie Clifford — the pornography actress, Stormy Daniels — has an interest in politics. It’s unlikely, but Ms Clifford’s starring role in an elitist, East Coast-FBI conspiracy to discredit the president could yet be uncovered.

What is known is that Ms Clifford was paid $130,000 (€105,000) by Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, during the 2016 presidential campaign, in exchange for her silence about a casting-couch liaison she said she had with Mr Trump in 2006, when he was hosting Celebrity Apprentice. There was no such tryst, says Mr T, which raises the question of why hush money was paid. As they would probably say in the American heartlands that put him in the White House: go figure!

Americans know that when electing politicians they’re not choosing saints. A book could be written — and probably has been — about the sex lives of US presidents: Jefferson, Harding, Franklin Roosevelt, Jack Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton were among those who found the 7th Commandment especially challenging.

Ms Daniels will probably not be the storm that blows Trump out of the White House. So far, none of the muck has stuck. She has, though, featured in yet another squalid episode in the life of a president who has debased his office to a level unmatched in its modern history.