A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted on a plane by Donald Trump told a court he was all over her like he “had 40 zillion hands”.
Jessica Leeds claimed the former US president pounced on her “out of the blue” as they sat together in a first-class cabin in the late Seventies, telling jurors that he groped and attempted to kiss her in a “tussle”.
She was giving evidence in a case brought by the writer E Jean Carroll, who alleges she was raped by Mr Trump in a Manhattan department store in 1996. He denies the allegations of both women and insists Ms Carroll’s civil claim is politically-motivated to damage his 2024 run for the White House.
Ms Leeds, now 81, from North Carolina, said she was working in sales when she took a Braniff Airways flight from Dallas or Atlanta to New York’s LaGuardia airport. She said she was invited to upgrade to first class and found herself seated next to Mr Trump — although she was unaware who he was at the time and was the only woman there.
Ms Leeds said she sat with him for several hours and had a meal but their conversation was otherwise forgettable. Then, she said: “All of a sudden Trump decided to kiss me and grope me. There was no conversation. It was like out of the blue. It was like a tussle”, she told the court. “He was trying to kiss me, trying to pull me towards him. He was grabbing my breasts. It was like he had 40 zillion hands. It was like a tussling match between the two of us.”
Ms Leeds, who was in her thirties at the time, said she fought back as Mr Trump started to put his hand up her skirt. “That kind of gave me a jolt of strength and I managed to wiggle out of the seat and storm back to my seat in coach”, she said.
“I don’t think there was a word or a sound made by either one of us.”
Ms Leeds said when the flight landed she stayed on the plane until it had emptied to avoid bumping into Mr Trump again.
She kept the incident to herself, putting it down to the “rigours of travel”, and added that she did not go to the police or report it to her employers because “women didn’t complain about things in the workplace”. Ms Leeds’s evidence was called by lawyers for Ms Carroll in an attempt to bolster her claim against Mr Trump, showing an alleged pattern of sexual assaults on women. A third woman is also expected to give evidence alleging that she was victimised by the former president.
Ms Carroll, a high-profile magazine columnist and writer, first accused Mr Trump of rape in 2019, alleging she was attacked in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room.
The politician, 76, is not expected to give evidence in the civil trial and on Tuesday played golf at his Turnberry course in Scotland. However, a sworn deposition he has made may be shown to the jury. In remarks about Ms Carroll, Mr Trump has accused her of lying to sell books and says she is not his “type”.
When accused by Ms Leeds, Mr Trump told supporters at a 2016 rally: “Believe me, she would not be my first choice”. The civil trial at a Manhattan federal court continues.
