Which Miss America and Miss USA contestants publicly accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct or harassment, and what did each allege?
Executive summary
A number of former Miss USA and Miss Teen USA contestants publicly accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior while he owned the pageants; reporting identifies specific allegations ranging from unwanted kissing and groping to claims that he walked into changing rooms where contestants were partially or fully undressed [1] [2] [3]. The record in the provided sources attributes public accusations to named contestants including Temple Taggart (also reported as Temple Taggart McDowell), Samantha Holvey, Tasha Dixon, Mariah Billado and several others from the 1997 Miss Teen USA cohort, Cassandra Searles, and Bridget Sullivan; Trump and his spokespeople have repeatedly denied the allegations or said they were disproven by others present [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9].
1. Who went public and what they said, at a glance
Temple Taggart (Miss Utah USA in the late 1990s) publicly said Trump twice embraced and kissed her inappropriately during events tied to the Miss USA pageant, an account detailed in multiple outlets including NBC News and the Los Angeles Times [4] [2], Samantha Holvey (Miss North Carolina USA 2006) said Trump inspected contestants like “sexual objects,” made her feel “piece of meat,” and later said she saw him walk into a dressing room where contestants were naked [10] [5] [9]. Tasha Dixon (Miss Arizona USA 2001) described Trump “waltz[ing] in” to a dressing room while contestants were partially undressed [2] [6]. Mariah Billado and three other former Miss Teen USA contestants from 1997 told BuzzFeed and subsequent coverage that Trump walked into the Miss Teen USA changing room where girls were changing clothes [7] [3]. Cassandra Searles (Miss Washington USA 2013) wrote publicly that Trump treated contestants like “cattle,” described being grabbed, and referenced being invited to his hotel room [8]. Bridget Sullivan is reported to have said Trump hugged her low on the back and walked backstage when many contestants were naked or getting dressed [9].
2. The dressing-room claims: pattern and sources
Multiple sources recount a recurring allegation that Trump entered dressing rooms where contestants—sometimes teenagers—were in various stages of undress; the 1997 Miss Teen USA incident was reported by BuzzFeed and summarized by PolitiFact and Rolling Stone, with at least four contestants describing that he “walked in” and did not leave, and several named former contestants later corroborating memories of his presence backstage [7] [3]. Reporting distinguishes between accounts from named women and others quoted anonymously, and it notes that some people present later said they were unaware such an incident occurred or believed it could not have happened—details the campaign cited in defense [7].
3. Individual-contact allegations: kissing, groping, inspection
Several former contestants described one-on-one conduct rather than only dressing-room intrusions: Temple Taggart alleged Trump kissed her on the mouth as a greeting and embraced her in ways she found inappropriate [2] [4], Samantha Holvey described being personally inspected and objectified during a 2006 pageant event [9] [10], and Bridget Sullivan recounted hugs and squeezes she likened to a “creepy uncle” and walking backstage when contestants were getting dressed [9]. Business Insider and Rolling Stone compile similar anecdotal reports from multiple former contestants that present a pattern of unwelcome touching and intrusive behavior [8] [3].
4. Denials, disputes, and the campaign’s counterclaims
Trump and his campaign have consistently denied the accusations, calling them without merit and asserting that other individuals present disproved them; some outlets note the campaign offered witnesses who said they did not recall incidents, while fact-checking outlets caution that denials have not produced definitive proof disproving the allegations and that some corroboration comes from anonymous sources [1] [7] [2]. At the same time, a mix of named and anonymous former contestants amplified the complaints, and some contemporaneous recordings and reporting (e.g., audio obtained by media) fed public scrutiny of pageant backstage practices [3] [7].
5. Limits of the record and context for readers
The available sources supplied for this analysis document multiple Miss USA and Miss Teen USA contestants’ public accusations but do not identify Miss America contestants making these claims; therefore any statement about Miss America accusers cannot be confirmed or disproved from this reporting and should be treated as outside the current record [1] [10]. Reporting also differentiates between named versus anonymous sources and notes disputes about memory and timing—factors that shape how each allegation has been received in public debate [7] [8].
6. Bottom line
Public accusations in the supplied reporting identify specific former Miss USA and Miss Teen USA contestants—Temple Taggart, Samantha Holvey, Tasha Dixon, Mariah Billado and other 1997 contestants, Cassandra Searles, Bridget Sullivan, among others—who allege a range of misconduct by Trump from unwanted kissing and groping to entering dressing rooms while contestants were undressed; Trump and his camp have uniformly denied these claims and cited others’ accounts that they say contradict the allegations, and the sources include both named and anonymous accounts with limits on corroboration [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9].