Former Miss Finland becomes 12th woman to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct
A 12th woman has come forward to accuse Republican nominee Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Former Miss Finland Ninni Laaksonen, now 30, told Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat in an interview published Thursday that Trump grabbed her before an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman in July of 2006.
"Before the show, we were photographed outside the building. Trump stood right next to me and suddenly he squeezed my butt. He really grabbed my butt," Laaksonen said. "I don’t think anybody saw it, but I flinched and thought: 'What is happening?'"
Laaksonen noted someone had told her at another event that year Trump liked her "because I looked like Melania [Trump] when she was younger." Trump married his third wife just one year prior to the alleged incident.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Laaksonen made the allegations after being contacted by Ilta-Sanomat, as part of an effort by the paper to interview Finnish women who have met Trump. She had never before discussed her experience. Trump has not yet responded to Laaksonen's allegations, though he has steadfastly denied those of the other 11 women who have come forward in recent weeks.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Political cartoons for November 9Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include a ripoff, and the land of opportunity
-
A ‘golden age’ of nuclear powerThe Explainer The government is promising to ‘fire up nuclear power’. Why, and how?
-
Massacre in Darfur: the world looked the other wayTalking Point Atrocities in El Fasher follow decades of repression of Sudan’s black African population
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters