Trump, Daniels trade caustic tweets
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump celebrated the dismissal of a defamation suit brought against him by adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, calling Daniels "Horseface" on Tuesday and vowing to retaliate against her and her attorney.
Citing a Fox News headline about a judge tossing Daniels's suit, Trump tweeted: "Great, now I can go after Horseface and her 3rd rate lawyer in the Great State of Texas."
Trump went on: "She will confirm the letter she signed! She knows nothing about me, a total con!"
Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, responded by calling Trump a "disgusting misogynist" and an "embarrassment to the United States."
"Bring everything you have, because we are going to demonstrate to the world what a complete shyster and liar you are," Avenatti tweeted minutes after Trump.
"How many other women did you cheat on your wife with while you had a baby at home?" Avenatti wrote.
The dueling tweets came after District Judge S. James Otero on Monday dismissed Daniels' suit claiming that Trump defamed her when he suggested that she was lying about being threatened to keep quiet about their alleged tryst. Avenatti said he has appealed the ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump denies that he and Daniels had a relationship.
It was not immediately clear what Trump meant when he vowed to "go after" Daniels and Avenatti in Texas. Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, lives in the state.
The "letter" Trump Daniels Trump
mentioned seemed to refer to a signed Jan. 10, 2018, statement from Daniels in which she denied having an affair with Trump and called allegations to the contrary "absolutely false." The statement was released to the media that month by Trump's then-attorney, Michael Cohen.
The statement, which Daniels has since withdrawn, contradicted an extensive account of the alleged liaison she gave in a 2011 interview with In Touch magazine.
Daniels says she had sex with Trump in July 2006, four months after the birth of Trump's third son, Barron. In her new book, "Full Disclosure," she gives a detailed account of the evening she said they had sex, including describing Trump's genitals.
Daniels responded to the "Horseface" tweet on Tuesday by referring to Trump as "Tiny."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present your president," she tweeted. "In addition to his … umm … shortcomings, he has demonstrated his incompetence, hatred of women and lack of self control on Twitter AGAIN! And perhaps a penchant for bestiality."
Asked later by The Associated Press if it was appropriate to insult a woman's appearance, Trump responded, "You can take it any way you want."
Daniels and Avenatti's other suit against Trump, over a nondisclosure agreement Daniels signed in 2016, remains pending before Otero.