Last year, nearly two decades after he'd accosted author E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan department store dressing room, a New York jury ruled former President Donald Trump was liable for sexual abuse, battery, and defamation against his victim, and ordered him to pay five million dollars in damages. The verdict was informed in no small part by Trump's public comments about the incident, which he emphatically denied by claiming Carroll was simply not his "type." One day after Carroll won her lawsuit, the former president appeared on CNN, where he denounced Carroll as a "whack job" whose winnings were a "rigged deal" against him. Carroll, in response, sued Trump again, this time for ten million dollars.
Although Trump's comments are perhaps his most costly remarks pertaining to women, they are far from alone. Here are just some of the questionable, offensive, and overtly sexist things the former president has said about women:
On 2024 presidential candidate and GOP nomination rival Nikki Haley
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"Nimbra doesn't have what it takes" [Jan. 19, 2024]
"Birdbrain doesn't have the TALENT or TEMPERAMENT to do the job" [Sept. 29, 2023]
On former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao
"[GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell's] China loving wife, Coco Chao!" [Sept. 30, 2022]
On Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis
"She was out of her mind" [Jan. 9, 2024]
On Casey DeSantis, wife of 2024 presidential candidate and GOP nomination rival Ron DeSantis
"I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign" [Nov. 8, 2022]
On Vice President Kamala Harris
"This monster that was onstage with Mike Pence, who destroyed her last night, by the way. I thought that wasn't even a contest last night. She was terrible. I don't think you could get worse. And totally unlikeable" [Oct. 8, 2020]
"You know what, people don't like her. Nobody likes her. She could never be the first woman president. She could never be. That would be an insult to our country." [Sept. 8, 2020]
"Very, very nasty ... the meanest, the most horrible, most disrespectful of anybody in the U.S. Senate." [Aug. 11, 2020]
On Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
"This is not even a smart person, other than she's got a good line of stuff. I mean, she goes out and she yaps." [Aug. 14, 2020]
On Stormy Daniels
"Horseface" [Oct. 16, 2018]
"I never liked horseface. That wouldn't be the one. There is no one. We have a great First Lady." [March 25, 2023]
On the #MeToo movement
"It is a very scary time for young men in America, where you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of. … Women are doing great." [Oct. 2, 2018]
"You've got to deny, deny, deny and push back on these women. If you admit to anything and any culpability, then you're dead. … You've got to be strong. You've got to be aggressive. You've got to push back hard. You've got to deny anything that's said about you. Never admit." [Via Bob Woodward's Fear: Trump in the White House]
On Omarosa Manigault Newman
"A crazed, crying lowlife" and a "dog." [Aug. 14, 2018]
On Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters
"An extraordinarily low IQ person." [June 25, 2018]
On Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
"[S]omeone who would come to my office 'begging' for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them)." [Dec. 12, 2017]
On French first lady Brigitte Macron
"You know, you're in such good shape. Beautiful." [July 13, 2017]
On Mika Brzezinski
"I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!" [June 29, 2017]
On Hillary Clinton
"Such a nasty woman." [Oct. 19, 2016]
"If she were a man, I don't think she'd get 5 percent of the vote." [April 26, 2016]
"If Hillary Clinton can't satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America?" [April 16, 2015]
On Carly Fiorina
"Look at that face. Would anybody vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president? I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" [Sept. 9, 2015]
On Heidi Klum
"Sadly, she's no longer a 10." [Aug. 15, 2015]
On Megyn Kelly
"She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever." [Aug. 7, 2015]
"Bimbo." [Aug. 7, 2015]
On Kim Kardashian
Asked if her butt is big: "Well, absolutely. It's record-setting. In the old days, they'd say she has a bad body." [June 18, 2014]
"Does she have a good body? No. Does she have a fat ass? Absolutely." [Feb. 6, 2013]
On Halle Berry
"I love her … upper body." [February 2013]
On Beyoncé
"When Beyoncé was thrusting her hips forward in a very suggestive manner, if someone else would have done that it would have been a national scandal. I thought it was ridiculous ... I thought it was not appropriate." [February 2013]
On Jessica Chastain
"She's certainly not hot." [February 2013]
On Cher
"I promise not to talk about your massive plastic surgeries that didn't work." [Nov. 13, 2012]
On Bette Midler
"@BetteMidler talks about my hair but I'm not allowed to talk about her ugly face or body --- so I won't. Is this a double standard?" [Oct. 28, 2012]
Two minutes later: "While @BetteMidler is an extremely unattractive woman, I refuse to say that because I always insist on being politically correct." [Oct. 28, 2012]
On Kristen Stewart
"Robert [Pattinson] I'm getting a lot of heat for saying you should dump Kristen — but I'm right. If you saw the Miss Universe girls, you would reconsider." [Oct. 18, 2012]
On Arianna Huffington
"Unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man — he made a good decision." [Aug. 28, 2012]
On Angelina Jolie
"Angelina Jolie is sort of amazing because everyone thinks she's like this great beauty. And I'm not saying she's an unattractive woman, but she's not beauty, by any stretch of the imagination." [October 2007]
"I really understand beauty. And I will tell you, she's not — I do own Miss Universe. I do own Miss USA. I mean I own a lot of different things. I do understand beauty, and she's not." [October 2007]
"I remember at the Academy Awards a few years ago she was frenching her brother. She was giving her brother lip kisses like I never saw before in my life. And she had just said she made love to Billy Bob Thornton in the back of the limousine on the way over. And I wouldn't want to shake her hand, by the way." [October 2007]
On Rosie O'Donnell
"Can you imagine the parents of Kelli ... when she said, 'Mom, Dad, I just fell in love with a big, fat pig named Rosie?'" [Dec. 29, 2006]
"We're all a little chubby but Rosie's just worse than most of us. But it's not the chubbiness — Rosie is a very unattractive person, both inside and out." [2006]
"Rosie's a person who's very lucky to have her girlfriend and she better be careful or I'll send one of my friends over to pick up her girlfriend. Why would she stay with Rosie if she had another choice?" [2006]
"If I were running 'The View,' I'd fire Rosie O'Donnell. I mean, I'd look at her right in that fat, ugly face of hers, I'd say, 'Rosie, you're fired.'" [2006]
On his daughter Ivanka Trump
When asked if Ivanka, then 24, had breast implants: "She's actually always been very voluptuous." [2006]
"She does have a very nice figure ... if [she] weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her." [June 4, 2004]
On his wife Melania Trump
When asked if he would stay with her if she was disfigured in a car crash: "How do the breasts look?" [April 11, 2005]
On Nancy O'Dell
"I moved on her actually. You know she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her and I failed. I'll admit it. I did try and f--k her. She was married." [2005]
On Lindsay Lohan
"What do you think of Lindsay Lohan? There's something there, right? But you have to like freckles. I've seen a close-up of her chest. And a lot of freckles. Are you into freckles? ... She's probably deeply troubled, and therefore great in bed. How come the deeply troubled women — deeply, deeply troubled — they're always the best in bed?" [2004]
On Steffi Graf
"You never get to the face because the body's so good." [Sept. 23, 2004]
On Paris Hilton
"Now, somebody who a lot of people don't give credit to but in actuality is really beautiful is Paris Hilton. I've known Paris Hilton from the time she's 12, her parents are friends of mine, and the first time I saw her she walked into the room and I said, 'Who the hell is that?'" [2003]
On Princess Diana
Three weeks after her death, Trump was asked if he could have "nailed" Princess Diana: "I think I could have." [1997]
On his daughter Tiffany Trump
"Well, I think that she's got a lot of Marla. She's a really beautiful baby, and she's got Marla's legs." Motioning to his chest, Trump added: "We don't know whether she's got this part yet, but time will tell." [1994]
On women of 'The Apprentice' in general
To a contestant on "The Apprentice:" "That must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees." [2013]
"All of the women on 'The Apprentice' flirted with me — consciously or unconsciously. That's to be expected." [2004]
"It's certainly not groundbreaking news that the early victories by the women on 'The Apprentice' were, to a very large extent, dependent on their sex appeal." [2004]
On women he's been in relationships with
"I'd have no problem" sleeping with 24-year-olds. (Trump was 60 at the time.) [2006]
"I don't want to be like Congressman Foley, with, you know, 12-year-olds." [2006]
Asked whether he's had sex with a Black woman: "Well, it depends on what your definition of Black is." [2005]
"You know, it doesn't really matter what [the media] writes as long as you've got a young and beautiful piece of ass." [1991]
His thoughts on women in general
"I saved your suburbs — women, suburban women, you're supposed to love Trump!" [Oct. 18, 2020]
To a female reporter: "We could say, politically correct, that look doesn't matter, but the look obviously matters. Like you wouldn't have your job if you weren't beautiful." [2014]
"26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military — only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?" [May 7, 2013]
"Look at her ass" (allegation by former administration Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham) [May 9, 2023]
"I've got to use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything." [2005]
"I think the only difference between me and the other candidates is that I'm more honest and my women are more beautiful." [Nov. 17, 1999]
"There's nothing I love more than women, but they're really a lot different than portrayed. They are far worse than men, far more aggressive, and boy, can they be smart!" [1997]
"Women have one of the great acts of all time. The smart ones act very feminine and needy, but inside they are real killers. The person who came up with the expression 'the weaker sex' was either very naive or had to be kidding. I have seen women manipulate men with just a twitch of their eye — or perhaps another body part." [1997]
His thoughts on how he treats women
"Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Nobody. Nobody has more respect." [Oct. 19, 2016]
Update Jan. 22, 2024: This article has been updated throughout.
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