Ninni Laaksonen, a former Miss Finland in the Miss Universe competition that Trump once owned, alleged that he ‘grabbed my butt’ during a photo shoot

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A former beauty queen has become the 12th woman to openly accuse Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of sexual assault.

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Ninni Laaksonen, a former Miss Finland in the Miss Universe competition that Trump once owned, alleged in an interview with the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat that Trump groped her before an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2006.

“Before the show we were photographed outside the building,” Laaksonen said, according to a translation provided by The Telegraph. “Trump stood right next to me and suddenly he squeezed my butt. He really grabbed my butt.

“I don’t think anybody saw it but I flinched and thought: ‘What is happening?’”

Laaksonen said that she had been told at other events that year that Trump found her attractive because she reminded him of his wife, Melania, whom he had married the year before.

“Somebody told me there that Trump liked me because I looked like Melania when she was younger,” Laaksonen said. “It left me disgusted.”

Trump’s campaign has denied the previous 11 allegations of sexual assault and further examples of sexual impropriety leveled against the candidate.