A former Miss USA has leapt to the defense of Donald Trump praising him for his 'kindness' while questioning the credibility of a string of women who have rocked the tycoon's political campaign with a series of sexual assault allegations.

Chelsea Cooley competed in the Republican presidential nominee's Miss Universe competition in 2005, after being crowned Miss USA in the same year.

Soon after, the North Carolina beauty formed a friendship with the billionaire reality TV star, and he became her business mentor.

Now, in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Cooley, 32, has shared her warm feelings for the under-fire real estate mogul and says she will always be grateful to Trump for the kindness he showed her.

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Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley, 32, has defended Donald Trump following an onslaught of sexual assault allegations against the real estate tycoon

Chelsea Cooley competed in Donald Trump's Miss Universe competition in 2005, after being crowned Miss USA in the same year

Cooley, who herself was sexually assaulted by a restaurant manager when she was just 16, also questions the timing of the alleged victims' claims as election day looms closer.

She believes, from her own experience, that victims who have been sexually abused would come forward sooner and not later, and doubts the credibility of their stories.

Speaking from her home in North Carolina, Cooley explained that during her time competing on Miss Universe 2005 with Trump, she never once saw him act inappropriately.

'In terms of Donald acting inappropriately towards women, I have never seen him be anything but a consummate gentleman,' Cooley said.

'I competed in Miss USA in 2005 and beyond and met Donald and Melania for the first time then. They came down to our dressing room to greet us and wish us the best of luck right before the telecast.

'I even have the picture of all of that, and that was all he would do. There was nothing inappropriate that he said or did.'

Since that day, Cooley claims she has known Trump for 11 years, and counts the last five years as a telling part of their relationship.

She went into business on her own and Trump has acted, not only as an inspiration, but a mentor as she braved it alone.

Cooley (pictured center wearing a North Carolina sash while speaking to Trump) said that while competing on Miss Universe 2005 and Miss USA with Trump, she never once saw him act inappropriately

Cooley explained: 'I have known Mr Trump for 11 years now. He has been my personal business mentor for the past five years.

'I have always greatly respected his business sense, and just how he runs his companies so I asked him to be my business mentor.

'His schedule is obviously very busy, and this is far before he decided to run for president, but he said, "absolutely, I will do whatever I can to help you".

'And all I wanted was advice. I don't want any money. That was never it at all. It was the simple fact of having a sound ear, that is what a mentor is, to bounce ideas off of with different business projects.

'I have been an entrepreneur my whole adult life. The fact that he even said yes to that was huge. He didn't have to, because he gets absolutely nothing out of it.'

Cooley continued: 'I have been to many events, flown on his plane many a time, and I have never ever been in a compromised situation, nothing ever happened. He has been nothing but respectful, so I have never had a negative encounter with him.'

In recent days Trump has been accused by a number of women who claim he sexually assaulted them.

Cooley has sympathy for their claims, having been sexually assaulted herself when she was 16 years old working at a restaurant.

However, she has doubts on their validity, questioning why it took so long for these allegations to come out and believes they may be tied to bringing down Trump's political campaign.

Cooley says she will always be grateful to Trump for the kindness he showed her, adding that he has become her business mentor in recent years

'I am shocked [about the sexual assault claims],' she said. 'Less than a month out from the election, it is all coming out now? You can't help but look at the timing and question it.

'Like I said, I have never experienced anything like that with Donald, so it makes me question why would you bring it up now? Why would you come out about it now?

'Why would you not come out about it before if it happened and if it was something that greatly bothered you? I guess I am a different person because if something bothered me, I would speak out about it.

'When I was 16 years old, I worked at a restaurant and my manager sexually assaulted me. I immediately spoke out about it.

'I have been in that situation and I know what that feels like. I know what that's like. I immediately told my mom, we called the owner of the company.

'I mean we went through every appropriate measure because it was not right. So I can only answer what I have personally done in a situation like that, for me. I don't know why you wouldn't speak out until now.'

Another person to attack Trump over his comments about women was former Miss Universe 1996 winner Alicia Machado, who accused him of calling her 'Miss Piggy' and 'Miss Housekeeping' because she's Latina.

Cooley's experience, running a successful beauty pageant school for prospective models, says that the girls competing wouldn't come back if they were so badly treated.

She said: 'I have competed in pageants. I competed in Miss Teen USA. I have been involved in the Miss Universe organization for half of my life, and you had girls that competed in Teen USA that comeback to compete in Miss USA.

Cooley (pictured right with Natalie Glebova Miss Universe 2005 and Donald Trump), who herself was sexually assaulted by a restaurant manager when she was just 16, questions the timing of the alleged victims' claims

'And this was all while Mr Trump co-owned the organization. So why if it was so bad then would you come back and compete?

'Why hasn't any of this ever swirled around the pageant world? I ran the most successful pageant coaching business in that world for nine years and we trained all of the girls every year for Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.

'If anybody would've heard anything about that it would have been me. I was so deeply rooted and planted in that organization and training the girls.

'I know every single girl competing in these pageants. So why now? To me, that is something I can't wrap my brain around.'

Trump caused further controversy when he was caught on camera with Billy Bush, a four-time Miss Universe host, claiming you can do anything with women when you're famous, and is heard on video saying at one point, 'Grab her by the p****'.

Despite her ties with Trump, Cooley condemned his behavior but insisted he's apologized for his misdemeanor, should be allowed to move on, and is a different person to that man from 11-years ago on that tape.

'Well, I definitely don't condone what he said by any means and I am not dismissing what he said because he said what he said,' Cooley explained. 'But, he apologized for it.

'What I know is there was a point in time in my life before I was saved and before I found the Lord, I said a whole lot of things that were not representative of me as a person.'

Cooley has previously spoken out about Trump's actions, telling Fox News that he has always been respectful to her

She added: 'I am also not going to hold something over someone's head that they said over ten years ago because I certainly wouldn't want someone doing that to me.

'I am a completely different person than I was ten years ago.

'When it comes to any election, for me, I care more about policy, than anything else right now because that is what is going to save us for the next four, eight, ten, 12, 20 years.

'For me that should be what is the most important in an election right now. Policy has to be the number one focus.'

Cooley speaks fondly of Donald's ability to command attention in a room, and describes him as having a 'magnetic personality'.

She added: 'People are drawn to him and drawn to his leadership and his confidence. He sincerely does care about people.'

Cooley also remembered back to a painful time in her life when her close friend Miss Venezuela, Monica Spear Mootz was brutally shot dead alongside her British husband Thomas Berry during a freeway robbery in 2014.

Their then-five-year-old daughter Maya was also harmed during the incident, but survived with a gunshot wound to her leg.

Cooley gave a TV interview to Inside Edition, and the very next day a concerned Donald called her to ask about Monica's family and Maya, and how he could help.

Cooley, who has known Trump for 11 years, claims that she never once saw him act inappropriately

Cooley claims that Trump has a 'magnetic personality' and she has always 'greatly respected' his business endeavors

'Monica was my best friend at Miss Universe,' Cooley revealed. 'I had literally just done an interview. This was a day after it happened. I think it was Inside Edition, and I got a call from Mr Trump.

He said, "How is her family doing? How is her daughter doing?" Because her daughter had been shot in the leg.

'He said, "I remember her, she was a great girl, I know you guys were really close, how are they doing? Is there anything I can do to help?" It is things like that which give you a grasp of the nature of the man.'

Cooley said that Trump's compassionate side holds no bounds.

she said: 'My best friend is Melissa Young, a former Miss Wisconsin. She is battling autonomic failure (a degenerative disorder of the nervous system) and is very ill.

'I went to Donald's rally in North Carolina, and had the honor of being backstage with him. The first thing he wanted to talk to me about was how Melissa was.

'He said to me, "Oh, I saw our girl the other day, she looked good. How is she doing? Have you talked to her today?" You know, he is getting ready to walk out to 12,000 people and do a rally, and the first thing he asked me about was her and how she is doing and he wasn't thinking about himself. Again, that shows you what he's like.'

Cooley is adamant that the public is yet to see the real Trump and stands by him and his campaign.

'I can only speak on the experience that I have had with him,' she said. 'That has been my experience.