Trump accused of groping model he met through Jeffrey Epstein

A former model has accused Donald Trump of groping her after the two were introduced by sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein in the 1990s, The Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Stacey Williams said she met the Republican White House candidate at a party in 1992 after being introduced by the disgraced financier, whom she had dated.

"It became very clear then that he and Donald were really, really good friends and spent a lot of time together," Williams was quoted as saying.

Williams discussed the alleged assault on a call on Monday organized by Survivors for Kamala, a lobby group supporting Trump's Democratic presidential rival Kamala Harris.

Epstein, who was convicted on sex offences and killed himself in prison in 2019, paid Trump an impromptu visit with Williams in 1992 at his New York office block, where he pulled her toward him and began groping her, she alleged.

Williams, now 56, says Trump inappropriately touched her, causing her to freeze on the spot, and she noticed that the two men appeared to be smiling at each other.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment, but The Guardian quoted a campaign spokeswoman dismissing the allegations as a "fake" story.

She said it was invented by the Harris campaign and described Williams "a former activist" for Democratic ex-president Barack Obama.

Williams shared a postcard depicting Trump's south Florida mansion she said he had sent her agent after the episode, with the message, in his handwriting: "Stacey - Your home away from home. Love Donald."

Trump has been accused of sexual assault or harassment by more than 20 women but denies all wrongdoing.

He was ordered by a New York court in January to pay $83.3 million to compensate the writer E. Jean Carroll, whom he was found liable for sexually assaulting and defaming.