“He was very angry, very upset, screaming, basically at me.”

“The boss is going to be very angry with you,” Pecker recalled Cohen saying.

“I’m sorry, the deal is off,” Pecker replied.

Trump sat leaned back in his chair with a slight scowl on his face.

Pecker also recalled how the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape was released just before the 2016 election.

“The gist of that recording was a conversation between Donald Trump and Billy Bush … going on a bus to a set and the comments from Mr. Trump was, ‘You can grab a woman by their genitals,’” Pecker recalled.

“It was very embarrassing, very damaging to the campaign.”

Pecker tells how Playboy model payoff happened

Pecker said he believed Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story about an affair with Trump was true and that it would be “very embarrassing” for Trump and his campaign. He said he and Cohen went back and forth a bit before the fixer said Trump had given the green light, authorizing Pecker to make a deal to kill the story.

Dylan Howard, the National Enquirer’s top editor, negotiated the lifetime rights to McDougal’s story for $150,000. They also included in the deal professional opportunities to write for some of Pecker’s lifestyle and health publications.

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