I Believe My Husband

Melania Trump backs the president as a porn star and a Playmate detail their alleged affairs with him

They posed shoulder to shoulder, hands tightly clasped, smiling widely. In a photo posted to the first lady’s Twitter account on March 22, Melania and Donald Trump looked happier than they have in months. Released on the same day CBS confirmed plans to air a 60 Minutes interview with porn star Stormy Daniels, who’s long claimed to have begun an affair with Trump four months after Melania gave birth to their son, Barron, in 2006, the message was clear: Melania was, quite literally, standing by her man.

The president insists an affair never happened — and Melania believes him, one of Trump’s friends exclusively tells In Touch. “She is very in love with her husband, and she believes her husband,” says Federico Pignatelli, the founder and owner of NYC’S Pier 59 Studios, who’s known Trump for nearly 30 years. “She’s a strong character, so she’s not able to be moved by these kind of things. ” On March 22, another woman, former Playboy Playmate Karen Mcdougal, opened up about claims she also had an affair with Trump, revealing they had unprotected sex “dozens of times” after they met in 2006. But Federico insists Melania, who hasn’t commented publicly on either scandal, isn’t concerned. “She really doesn’t care,” he tells In Touch. “At all.”

Trump braced Melania for affair claims back in 2010, an insider tells In Touch. “He told Melania that while he had known Stormy, he never had an extramarital affair with her. Melania chose to believe him then, and continues to now.” Stormy, 39, passed a polygraph

test in 2011. Her story has also been corroborated by a friend she confided in after she and Trump, 71, had what she told In Touch was “textbook generic” unprotected sex. But Federico insists that Melania, 47, “knows exactly who she married. She knows her husband likes women. [Donald and Stormy] knew each other, yes. [But] Melania believes her story is wildly exaggerated,” he says. “She and Donald are very close, and it’s a solid marriage. There was no affair.” Reports that other women have caused trouble in the marriage are false, too, Federico says: “All these rumors about problems with the couple are nonsense.”

STATE OF THEIR UNION But another source insists that Melania is just willing to look the other way. “She was never naive enough to think her husband wouldn’t stray. It just never seemed like the thought of an extramarital affair bothered her that much,” adds the source. “She was set up with wealth and prestige, a really great life. She wanted a child, and Donald agreed. But Donald did insist that this adult film star was just using him to further herself and he hadn’t cheated on [Melania].”

So the first lady will continue to ignore Stormy. “Melania’s really striving to stay above the fray,” says the source, adding that it would be surprising if Melania — who in 2016 branded sexual assault claims lodged against her husband by a growing list of women “lies” — addressed the scandal. “She doesn’t feel the need to defend her marriage to anyone.” Adds Federico: “She’s standing by her husband.” ◼

BOMBSHELL CLAIM “He always told me he loved me,” says Karen. “All the time. There was a real relationship there. There were real feelings between the two of us.”

IN DENIAL? “Obviously [Melania] is not happy” about the scandal, Donald’s pal Federico Pignatelli tells In Touch, but she thinks these women are exaggerating.