Donald Trump claimed to have a ‘great’ relationship with former Harrods boss Mohamed Al-Fayed and had praised the late billionaire over the years as a ‘fantastic’ man and business owner, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The Egyptian tycoon, who died in August 2023 aged 94, has been the subject of numerous allegations of sexual harassment and rape since his death – with more than 400 victims coming forward this week in a £1 billion lawsuit ( $1.3 billion) in Britain. .
Now DailyMail.com can reveal that Al-Fayed had close ties to Republican candidate Donald Trump, aged 78 – enough to be invited to his wedding to third wife Melania in 2005.
However, their friendship went back decades earlier, with Trump even singing the fellow businessman’s praises on British national television during an interview with the BBC’s Terry Wogan in 1988.
Appearing next to his first wife Ivana, Trump recalled a meeting with Al-Fayed and his wife Heini Wathen-Fayed, a Finnish former model who was married to Mohamed from 1985 until his death.
Donald Trump, pictured with first wife Ivana, spoke of his ‘great’ friendship with disgraced former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed in an unearthed interview with BBC presenter Terry Wogan in 1988
The Egyptian tycoon – who died in August 2023 at the age of 94 – has been the subject of hundreds of allegations of sexual harassment and assault since his death
‘This is a country that I find fascinating. We were with a man yesterday, Mohamed Al-Fayed – owner of Harrods – and he is a fantastic man. And his wife is just a wonderful lady and we spent a day and walked through Harrods,” Trump told Wogan.
“I mean, as an example, what a difference between this and when we last saw it five years ago, the great job he did with it.”
When another guest, the late comedian Barry Humphries, dressed as his alter ego Dame Edna Everage, interjected, “Oh great, wait until you see his house,” Trump replied, “It’s beautiful.”
“Oh, have you been there too?” says Humphries.
Wogan then steps in and jokes: ‘I have to say Donald, but you can’t be anywhere the Lady hasn’t been.’
Trump’s comments indicate that he visited Fayed in 1983 and 1988.
Although their friendship has flown under the radar, it remained close enough over the decades that Al-Fayed was able to come to Trump and Melania’s wedding in Palm Beach in January 2005.
The event was treated as a social story in the Palm Beach daily news in which it was reported that Al-Fayed made a grand entrance and walked straight to the front of the church.
Trump remained close enough to Al-Fayed over the years to invite the mogul to his 2005 wedding to third wife Melania in Palm Beach
Al-Fayed was the father of producer Dodi Al-Fayed (right), who was romantically linked to Princess Diana when they both died in a car crash in Paris in 1997
Princess Diana pictured with Mohammed Al Fayed at a charity dinner for the Harefield Heart Unit, held at Harrods, London, in February 1996
‘Mohamed Al-Fayed caused a stir when he entered the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea and placed himself in the front row reserved for the family as if, one guest grumbled, ‘he was the Archbishop of Canterbury.’ .’
Other guests included Bill and Hillary Clinton, Tony Bennett, Shaquille O’Neill, Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell.
Trump would speak fondly of Al-Fayed in subsequent interviews, including one 2003 sit-down with British business magazine Property Weekin which he reiterated that the now-disgraced magnate was “a friend of mine” and a “great guy.”
Speaking about his potential business interests in Britain, Trump told the magazine: “I have great relationships with a lot of great people there.
“Mohamed Al-Fayed is a friend of mine and a great guy, but a lot of people don’t know that.”
When asked about a possible ‘link with Harrods’ he answers: ‘Well, I don’t know.
‘I have to be very careful. I’ve turned down at least 10 jobs in England in the last five years because I don’t want to be in a situation where it’s not the best.’
Trump previously joked that he could have slept with the late Princess Diana, who was dating Al-Fayed’s son Dodi when they both died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
In a 1997 interview with Howard Stern, he was asked, “Why do people think it’s selfish of you to say you could have talked to Lady Di?” You could have caught her, right? You could have caught her?’
The billionaire Egyptian businessman – who is survived by his wife Heini Wathen (pictured in 2016) – bought Harrods in 1985, six years after acquiring the Ritz in the French capital. He bought Fulham in 1997
While most of the claims against Al-Fayed have come from former Harrods employees, other victims have also come forward from across the billionaire’s business empire.
This week the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it had sent its first letter of claim to Harrods, marking the ‘beginning of the formal legal process’, while lawyers indicated ‘it will be followed by hundreds of others’.
Trump responds, “I guess I could have done that,” before adding that she should take him to the doctors “for a little checkup,” referring to an STD test.
The ex-POTUS is a known germaphobe and told Stern that he always made sure women got the test before sleeping with him.
Trump’s close ties to the mogul have resurfaced as lawyers working on the case against the late Egyptian billionaire revealed on Thursday that they had handled 421 investigations related to Al-Fayed.
At a press conference in central London, the Justice for Harrods Survivors group said it had been contacted by many people from Harrods and Premier League football team Fulham FC, both owned by Al-Fayed.
The group’s legal team said it had sent its first letter of claim to Harrods, marking the “beginning of the formal legal process”, and indicated that “it will be followed by hundreds more”.
Dean Armstrong KC, member of the group’s legal team, added: ‘We are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with a major law firm that will handle the processing of these claims.
‘The law firm has expertise in this area and, lest anyone be concerned about our ability to fight this case to the end, backing in excess of £1 billion.’