New Report Details Decades of Trump’s Inappropriate Behavior Toward Women

It’s no secret that Donald Trump has made many controversial statements about women. But the presumptive Republican nominee for president has had to refocus aspects of his campaign as recent polls have revealed that most Republican women have an unfavorable view of him.

A report released by The New York Times on Saturday goes further than the numerous lists compiling the worst things Trump has said about women, however. According to the report:

The New York Times interviewed dozens of women who had worked with or for Mr. Trump over the past four decades, in the worlds of real estate, modeling and pageants; women who had dated him or interacted with him socially; and women and men who had closely observed his conduct since his adolescence. In all, more than 50 interviews were conducted over the course of six weeks.

Their accounts — many relayed here in their own words — reveal unwelcome romantic advances, unending commentary on the female form, a shrewd reliance on ambitious women, and unsettling workplace conduct, according to the interviews, as well as court records and written recollections. The interactions occurred in his offices at Trump Tower, at his homes, at construction sites and backstage at beauty pageants. They appeared to be fleeting, unimportant moments to him, but they left lasting impressions on the women who experienced them.

The profile isn’t overwhelmingly negative but seeks to analyze Trump’s complicated history with women in his life. “Some women found him gracious and encouraging,” notes the Times, but it adds that he “simultaneously nurtured women’s careers and mocked their physical appearance.” The profile begins with Trump’s time at boarding school and his relationship with his imposing father. Trump didn’t get into “the business of young, beautiful women” until he purchased the Miss Universe Organization:

His level of involvement in the pageants was unexpected, and his judgments, the contestants said, could be harsh. Carrie Prejean, who was 21 when she participated in the Miss USA contest in 2009 as Miss California, was surprised to find Mr. Trump personally evaluating the women at rehearsal.

The New York Times writes that “Mr. Trump was not just fixated on the appearance of the women around him” but “possessed an almost compulsive need to talk about it.” He also “liked to brag about his sexual prowess and his desirability as a date.”

Throughout the piece, Trump is on record as denying many of the allegations of uncomfortable interactions, particularly the intense accusations against him following his divorce from his first wife in the early 1990s. At the end of the report, the Times writes:

Mr. Trump says the world misunderstands his relationship with women. He sees himself as a promoter of women — a man whose business deals, like the purchase of the struggling Miss Universe pageant, have given them untold opportunities for employment and advancement. “Hundreds and hundreds of women, thousands of women, are the better for it,” he said.

Still, the piece ends, “when Mr. Trump lost confidence in women, he could inflict lasting damage on their lives.”

Trump has yet to publicly comment on the piece. You can read it in its entirety here.

–Posted by Emma Niles