The
National Enquirer enthusiastically endorsed
Donald Trump for the
2016 presidential election and published numerous stories promoting his candidacy and denigrating his opponents. During the Republican presidential primaries in March 2016, the title ran a story alleging that "political operatives" were investigating whether candidate
Ted Cruz, a U.S. Senator from
Texas, engaged in extramarital affairs. Cruz denied it and said that Trump had used his connections to persuade the
Enquirer to publish the story.…
The
National Enquirer ran another story in April 2016, suggesting that Cruz's father,
Rafael Cruz, knew
JFK assassin
Lee Harvey Oswald and worked with Oswald in New Orleans a few months before the assassination. Trump publicly discussed this story on May 3, 2016 saying to
Brian Kilmeade of
Fox News that "His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald's being — you know, shot. I mean the whole thing is ridiculous". On May 4, 2016 (a few hours after Cruz lost the
Indiana primary and withdrew his candidacy) Trump stated that he did not actually believe the story ("Of course I don't believe that") but the
Enquirer wanted to "let the people read it." … On July 22, 2016, Trump again mentioned the magazine in connection with Cruz's father, saying "I know nothing about his father. I know nothing about Lee Harvey Oswald. But there was a picture on the front page of the
National Enquirer that does have credibility."
Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations …
The
National Enquirer received, and refused to publish a story from
Karen McDougal about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006 and, in 2016 as his presidential campaign advanced, paid McDougal $150,000 for, among other items, "exclusive life rights to any relationship she has had with a then-married man."
The Wall Street Journal said that the tabloid had paid McDougal
hush money and was using the purchase and refusal to publish the story to protect Trump (a technique known as
catch and kill), an allegation the publication denied. In February 2018, after a similar situation involving
Stormy Daniels (not involving the
National Enquirer) was confirmed, McDougal confirmed her story to
Ronan Farrow for
The New Yorker, stating that the
National Enquirer had loosened the terms of the contract after Trump was elected but that she was unsure of how much she could discuss under the terms of the agreement. The publication had also paid $30,000 to an employee at one of Trump's hotels who claimed that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock during the 1980s; the payment came in November 2015, before the paper publicly endorsed Trump, and according to reports …
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