Friends of E Jean Carroll say she told them about the incident at the time - FR61802 AP

Two friends of a woman accusing Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s have said she told them about the alleged attack at the time.

E Jean Carroll, an American journalist, claims Mr Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman more than 20 years ago.

The US president has strongly denied the allegation, saying Carroll was "totally lying" and adding that he had never met the magazine columnist.

On Thursday two women, both journalists, came forward to support Carroll's claims, saying she had confided in them at the time of the alleged attack.

Carol Martin, a former New York news anchor, and Lisa Birnbach, a writer and best-selling author, described in a New York Times podcast how they had differing reactions when Carroll told about the incident.

Lisa Birnbach is the author of best-selling book The Official Preppy Handbook Credit: AP

Birnbach said Carroll called her right after the alleged incident, "breathless and laughing" and she initially laughed along.

"I remember her saying repeatedly, 'He pulled down my tights ... which got me to think that was as far as it went," she told The Daily podcast.

But Carroll then gave more details and described being penetrated, she said.

"And I said, 'What? He raped you?...I said, 'Let's go to the police,'" she recalled, but Carroll refused.

Martin said she spoke to her friend within a few days of the alleged assault, recalling that Carroll seemed to be "handling it" on her own, adding "she doesn't break down easily."

Martin said she advised her to keep quiet about the attack. "I said, 'Don't tell anybody,'" she recalled.

Carroll detailed the alleged encounter with Mr Trump and other allegations of assault in her new book, extracts of which were published in New York Magazine last week.

The New York-based advice columnist said she had difficulty describing the incident as rape Credit: AP

The advice columnist said that she'd run into Mr Trump at Bergdorf Goodman and was helping him shop for a gift when he pushed her up against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights against her will and attacked her.

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Carroll, now 75, said she does not want to consider herself a victim and has difficulty with defining it as "rape".

“Every woman gets to choose how she describes it. This is my way of saying it. This is my word. My word is fight,” she told the New York Times.

Mr Trump has repeatedly denied the claim. In an interview with The Hill, a political website, Mr Trump said: “I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?”