What specific sexual misconduct and harassment claims did Miss America and Miss USA contestants make about Donald Trump?
Executive summary
Several former Miss USA and Miss America–connected contestants and pageant participants have accused Donald Trump of a range of inappropriate sexual behavior while he owned the pageants, including staring at contestants’ bodies, walking into dressing areas with contestants undressed or half‑naked, groping or grabbing bottoms, and unwanted kissing or advances [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and compilations vary in detail and sourcing: individual claims are reported across outlets and books, while some allegations (and Trump’s public comments about being backstage) have been challenged, clarified, or given context in later fact checks and reporting [4] [5] [6].
1. What former Miss USA/Miss Universe contestants specifically alleged
Multiple former contestants described three recurring types of conduct: that Trump entered backstage or dressing areas while contestants were undressed or changing; that he made sexually charged comments or stared at contestants’ bodies in a way that made them feel objectified; and that he made or initiated unwanted physical contact such as groping, grabbing or kissing. For example, Bridget Sullivan told BuzzFeed she felt a hug was “a little low on your back” and that on one occasion Trump walked backstage while contestants were getting dressed [1]. Other accounts compiled by reporting and timelines say contestants alleged Trump walked into dressing rooms, repeatedly grabbed bottoms, invited women to hotel rooms, or kissed women without consent [3] [1].
2. High‑profile individual accounts cited in reporting
Samantha Holvey, Miss North Carolina USA 2006, said that when contestants met Trump at Trump Tower he “gazed at her 20‑year‑old body” and made her feel “like such a piece of meat,” a claim she has reiterated in calls for an ethics probe and public commentaries [2] [7]. Reporting compiled by The Guardian and other outlets lists former Miss Arizona, Miss Utah, Miss Finland and others who described being kissed without consent, grabbed, or exposed to Trump entering spaces where contestants were undressed [3].
3. Broader journalistic compilations and investigations
Longform reporting and books have aggregated dozens of allegations from pageant contestants and others. The 2019 book All the President’s Women and investigative pieces documented many such claims and quoted contestants describing being grabbed behind tapestries, kissed against their will, or subjected to unwanted touching [1]. Rolling Stone and timeline pieces have summarized a pattern of “creepiness” around Trump’s pageant behavior that includes backstage intrusions and joking comments about contestants [4].
4. Disputed details, context and fact‑checking
Some specific attributions and quotes have been clarified or corrected by fact‑checkers: social posts that said Trump admitted entering Miss Teen USA dressing rooms were misleading because quotes were not always about Miss Teen USA specifically, and reporting emphasized nuance between pageant brands and dates [5] [6]. Trump and his campaign have denied the allegations broadly; PolitiFact noted the campaign denied allegations but had not produced evidence disproving them [8]. Available sources do not provide uniform corroboration for every individual allegation; some claims rest on the recollections of participants and were reported in compilations rather than adjudicated in court [1] [3].
5. Legal and organizational outcomes referenced in reporting
Reporting shows some related disputes produced litigation or public blowups—e.g., other pageant controversies and disputes over rigging or defamation—but the specific pageant‑era sexual‑misconduct claims largely appear in journalistic compilations, survivor statements, and books rather than a uniform set of legal findings cited in these sources [9] [1]. The Guardian and 19th News summarized numerous pageant‑era complaints but do not point to a single comprehensive legal adjudication of all the pageant‑related allegations in the provided material [3] [1]. Available sources do not mention a nationwide criminal conviction tied to these particular contestant allegations.
6. What readers should watch for and limitations in reporting
Reporting across outlets compiles many individual accounts, but details—dates, exact locations (Miss USA vs. Miss Teen USA vs. Miss Universe), and the identities of all accusers—are not always uniform in the pieces provided; some social posts have conflated quotes or misattributed pageant programs, as Full Fact and Hindustan Times noted [5] [6]. Readers should note that some allegations come from contemporaneous interviews while others are compiled later in books and timelines; Trump and his representatives have denied the allegations and some defendants have disputed or legally contested specific claims [8] [1].
If you want, I can extract verbatim quotes from the named contestants in these reports, map each allegation to the specific source that published it, or assemble a timeline focused only on pageant‑era incidents with source links.