Swiss woman accuses Donald Trump of sexual assault

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

A former Miss Switzerland candidate has accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in New York in 1993. The US Republican candidate’s campaign team has denied the accusations.

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“I expected to have coffee with him, but I didn’t have time to turn around. He was already on top of me. He was touching me everywhere and kissing me […] At that moment, I thought I was going to die,” Beatrice Keul, toldExternal link Swiss public television, RTS, on Thursday evening.

The 53-year-old from Zurich first spoke about the incident to the British tabloid Daily Mail,External link claiming Donald Trump sexually assaulted her when she was 22. The allegations date back to 1993, during the “American Dream Pageant” beauty contest. A year earlier, the Swiss woman was a candidate in the Miss Switzerland competition, where she came third.

The American billionaire allegedly invited her to one of his hotel suites in Manhattan, New York, after spotting her that same year during the Miss Europe contest.

“I was very lucky because I managed to defend myself, especially thanks to my height. I was also wearing high heels, which meant we were at eye level. It was when he saw my look that really said ‘no’ that he understood he had no chance with me,” Keul told RTS.

Trump’s team denies the accusations

Trump’s campaign team denies the allegations, while several Republicans suspect a political manoeuvre in the run-up to the November 5 US election. But Keul rejects the charge: “I am Swiss; I am neutral. I don’t know any Democrats or Republicans.”

The Swiss woman also recounted to RTS how she met the late hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein at the time. He allegedly tried to convince her to join Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. She described to RTS a “predatory system” of which she was not aware at the time. “I felt like Heidi propelled into predator land,” she said.

Keul said she decided to speak publicly about the affair now because she rediscovered a box at her home containing objects documenting the trip, such as Trump’s invitation, a plane ticket and a commemorative plaque.

Twenty other alleged victims

Keul’s testimony, while disputed by Trump’s press service, mirrors accusations by other women over the years, including those of writer E. Jean Carroll, businesswoman Jill Harth, former model Stacey Williams and Trump’s former collaborator Alva Johnson. In total, 28 women have accused the American billionaire of sexual abuse, which he denies.

Keul does not plan to file a legal complaint. She told RTS that she prefers to tell her story in a book that will be published. However, she says she had been contacted by the “Survivors Against Trump” association, which brings together other alleged victims of the former US president.

Translated from French with DeepL/sb

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