Michael Cohen’s daughter Samantha has recounted a series of ‘creepy’ comments she says Donald Trump made about her when she was 15-years-old, in a Monday interview with CNN.
Her appearance on New Day comes as her father’s new book Disloyal: A Memoir, has hit bookshelves.
In the book, Cohen claims that in 2012 Trump whistled at his then-teen daughter as she was playing tennis, remarking ‘what a piece of a**. I would love some of that.’
After Cohen told Trump that she was his daughter, he allegedly replied ‘when did she get so hot?’, and then beckoned her over to come and kiss him on the cheek.
Speaking about the encounter on Monday, Samantha, now 24, said it gave her the impression that Trump was interested in ‘younger women.’
Trump, who was married to Melania at the time, also allegedly warned Samantha to ‘be careful, I’ll be dating your friends in a few years’.
‘I didn’t get the impression he was hitting on me directly,’ Samantha said. ‘But I had the impression that he was interested in younger women and that, you know, women would age out for him and that when one woman became too old, he’d find a new younger one.’
Michael Cohen claimed that Donald Trump made comments about his daughter’s looks when she was just 15 years old in 2012. Samantha is pictured with her father outside court in 2018 when he was sentenced to three years in prison
In the book, Cohen claims that in 2012 Trump whistled at his then-teen daughter as she was playing tennis, remarking ‘what a piece of a**. I would love some of that.’ (Pictured: Samantha Cohen takes part in a fashion show at Trump Tower in 2012 as Donald Trump watches on)
While the nature of the alleged comments went ‘over her head’ at the time, Samantha said what she remembers most clearly of the exchange is how degrading Trump had been towards her father.
Samantha claimed Trump had remarked ‘”well there’s no way she got her looks from you. Thank god you married a beautiful woman.”’
‘I was desensitized to men making creepy comments about me,’ she said, ‘but I was not desensitized to someone blatantly insulting and degrading my father in front of me – someone who I looked up to and loved very much, and that was very upsetting to me, and that made me think, okay, maybe Trump doesn’t want to treat my father so well.’
Samantha comments come just days after she described Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, as ‘phony and gross’ in a wide ranging interview with Vanity Fair.
Elaborating on those comment Monday, Samantha Cohen described what it was like growing up near ‘incredibly icy’ Ivanka, who lived in the same building as her family and is 13 years older.
‘She never paid me much attention. If I saw her in the lobby without my father, she would just look past me and ignored me.
‘There was never any warmth or recognition that I got from her,’ she continued. ‘And I think that that’s something that other people who know her say as well. She’s just – she’s cold. I always felt like maybe I wasn’t good enough for her attention. But that was my impression.’
Despite fraught relations with Ivanka, Samantha formed a close bond with the president’s other daughter, Tiffany Trump, who is two years older than her and studied alongside her at Pennsylvania University.
Samantha said Tiffany shared a ‘strained relationship’ with her father, caused in part by the fact she had grown up away from the rest of the family in California with her mother, Marla.
Since her father’s conviction, Samantha said she and Tiffany have become estranged. She voiced disappointment over her once close-friend’s decision to endorse Trump for re-election at the Republican National Convention last month.
‘I have very fond feelings for her, but clearly, we can’t be speaking in this time and myself along with other people that used to be close with her just are disappointed that she’s supporting this rhetoric, that we know she doesn’t believe,’ Samantha said.
‘Our close circle of mutual friends included gay people, black people, people of all different races and ethnicities and it’s just very sad to see her going along with this.’
When quizzed as to why she would endorse her father if she doesn’t support his views, Samantha said: ‘I don’t know. Maybe for her father’s affection? I can’t imagine what it’s like to grow up being unwanted by your family. My dad has never been anything but the best father in the entire world to me. I can’t relate with that feeling of wanting it so badly that you’ll go along with anything.’
Samantha was 11 years old when her father began working with Trump. She said she first thought it was ‘cool’ that her dad was working with a powerful celebrity, however she quickly soured on the now-president for how he treated her father.
She said working as Trump’s fixer quickly became Michael Cohen’s identity.
‘I think I saw a duality in him. I realized that my dad spent so much time with these people that I never got to witness, and it was this whole second life that he lived. And he would come home and be a completely different person. Yet, there was always this pull back to Trump.
‘They were incredibly close and I think that it took over a huge part of him. We’d be on vacation, he would be running around the beach in search of cell service. God forbid Trump call and he couldn’t answer. He missed ringing in New Year’s with us because he was outside on the phone, discussing something with Trump. And it took over far, far too much of his weigh consciousness.’