Melania Trump’s former press secretary claims Hope Hicks and Sarah Sanders called to see how the first lady was ‘handling’ the Karen McDougal affair rumors… but didn’t share details about the ‘deal’ with National Enquirer

Melania Trump’s former spokesperson said Hope Hicks and Sarah Huckabee Sanders would check in with her to see how the first lady was “dealing” with the Karen McDougal affair rumors — but did not share the details of any “deal” National Enquirer.

The revelation came as former National Enquirer CEO David Pecker testified in Donald Trump’s case involving hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Pecker spoke of a joint phone call with Hicks, who served as White House communications director, and Sanders, who was then White House press secretary and is now governor of Arkansas, about a catch-and-kill contract given to McDougal was given. .

Stephanie Grisham, who served as Melania’s communications director and chief of staff, said the duo of taxpayer-funded White House aides never told her anything about a payout.

“Funny, they called me a lot to find out how MT was reacting to all the Clifford/McDougal news, but didn’t bother to share this information with me,” Grisham wrote on X.

Melania Trump was reportedly blind when reports emerged of her husband’s alleged affairs. He has denied them and called the trial against him a “witch hunt.”

Pecker testified that he spoke with Hicks and Sanders — two of Donald Trump’s most trusted White House aides — about whether McDougal’s catch-and-kill contact should be extended.

“They both said they thought it was a good idea,” Pecker said.

However, the company did not renew the contract as they settled a lawsuit McDougal filed against them to regain her lifetime rights.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, the National Enquirer paid tens of thousands of dollars for stories about Trump to keep them out of the public eye.

McDougal was paid $150,000 for her accusation of an affair with Trump, which Trump denies. The Enquirer never published the story in a practice known as catch-and-kill.

Pecker is testifying as Trump faces 34 felony charges for a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, made during the 2016 campaign, to keep her quiet about her affair allegation.

When it came to Daniels’ claims, Pecker said he stood his ground.

“I’m not paying for this story,” he told jurors Thursday.

Pecker was already $180,000 in the hole with other Trump-related stories by the time Daniels came along.

Former US President Donald Trump watches as prosecutor Joshua Steinglass questions David Pecker during Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to hide money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016

White House Communications Director Hope Hicks (left) with then-President Donald Trump and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders (right) in the Oval Office in January 2018

Former President Donald Trump sits between his lawyers Emil Bove (left) and Todd Blanche

Trump seen with former Playboy model Karen McDougal

Pecker also testified that Trump invited him to dinner at the White House in July 2017 to thank him for his help with the campaign.

Pecker brought along his then editor Dylan Howard and other business partners. They posed for photos with Trump in the Oval Office. Pecker said Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and press adviser Sean Spicer were present at the dinner.

At one point during the evening, Pecker said Trump asked him for an update on Karen McDougal, a former Playboy playmate turned model.

“How’s Karen?” he recalled Trump saying as they walked past the Rose Garden from the Oval Office to the dining room.

“I said she’s fine, she’s quiet, she’s fine,” Pecker testified.

But months later, in March 2018, the president became enraged when McDougal gave an interview to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Pecker testified.

“I thought so and we had an agreement with Karen McDougal that she is not allowed to give interviews or appear on TV channels,” Trump told Pecker by phone, the former National Enquirer publisher said.

He said he explained to the then-president that the agreement had been changed to allow her to speak to the press following a November 2016 Wall Street Journal article about the tabloid’s $150,000 payout to McDougal.

‘Mr. Trump got very irritated when he heard that I had changed it, and he couldn’t understand why,” Pecker told jurors.

Trump was generally furious about the leak to the Journal and accused Pecker of being behind it.

‘How could this happen? I thought you had this under control,” Pecker said Trump asked him.

“You or one of your people leaked this story.”