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By Joshua Rhett Miller and Khaleda Rahman
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A former model who has accused President Donald Trump of rape is concerned about her safety following the release of a report by House Democrats detailing the alleged assault for the first time, she told Newsweek.
"None of these allegations are true," White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told Newsweek in a statement on Monday.
Former Miss Switzerland runner-up Beatrice Keul, who alleges Trump attacked her during the Donald J. Trump American Dream Pageant at the Plaza Hotel in New York in November 1993, said she received an anonymous phone call Tuesday afternoon—one day after Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee detailed her accusations in a 53-page report into whether Trump committed wrongdoing in connection with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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"It was from the U.S. and clearly directed to me and my family if I continue to spread the word in America," Keul, 56, told Newsweek during an exclusive interview early Wednesday.
A "computerized voice" delivered the message to Keul, warning her to stop speaking about the alleged attack, she said.
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"It was anonymous," Keul said. "But who could do that?"
Keul said she relayed the threat to her attorney, whom she declined to identify, amid an ongoing probe into the purported intimidation.
"They are investigating right now," she said, declining to elaborate. "I need to protect myself."
Newsweek has reached out to FBI and Swiss authorities for comment on the alleged threats.
Keul said she's now worried about her safety as her allegations against Trump have circulated, prompting criticism from conservative commentators, including Megyn Kelly.
"I am scared," she told Newsweek. "They have the power and the money."
Days before the 2024 election, Keul had accused Trump of groping her at the pageant in an interview with the Daily Mail, but did not allege she had been raped.
"I got threats and I was scared," Keul told Newsweek regarding the shift in her account, adding that media outlets had previously sought a "soft version" of her allegations due to cease-and-desist letters.
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Keul's allegations, which have not been independently verified by Newsweek, were outlined Monday in a report released by Democrats after several weeks of discussions with House Judiciary staff.
"I went in, I looked left and I looked right—he jumped on me, he became a wild animal, I could not recognize him anymore," Keul told Newsweek of the alleged assault inside a Plaza Hotel suite. "It was brutal, it was violent."
Keul said Trump then threatened her, telling her not to tell anyone about the incident.
"After the attack, I got threats," she continued. "He told me to be quiet, otherwise bad things will happen to me, and the show must go on—cold like an iceberg. And that's when I understood that it was not his first try. I said everything he wanted me to hear to make sure that I escaped alive and I could take the flight back home."
Keul declined to indicate whether she was under oath when she spoke to the House committee or whether she's having discussions with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
In a statement to Newsweek, White House officials called the committee report a "desperate attempt by crazed Democrats to distract Americans from the surging Republican momentum" propelled by Trump's record.
Keul said the event marked her first trip to America.
"So, you can imagine, I come with best feelings, and all of a sudden, I land in an ambush in the New York jungle, full of predators," Keul told Newsweek. “Because you have to imagine, Trump paid and financed this event, and he has let two other predators to come and hunt on this ground and get fresh meat."
Keul alleges that Trump and Epstein used the pageant as a "hunting ground" to prey on vulnerable young women and girls.
Keul said she did not relay the alleged attack once she returned to Switzerland, saying reporting sexual assault was "taboo" decades ago.
"In the 90s, it was impossible," she continued. "In the 90s, we didn't have a voice, we didn't have associations, we didn't have anybody who was listening. It was taboo, and therefore, it was impossible to rely on anybody. And I understood that very quickly that I have to find solution for myself alone, and that was the only alternative to suffer in silence."
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Keul said Trump should be accountable for the alleged attack.
"This is the aim of the entire exercise," she told Newsweek of her recent interviews with committee staff. "That's what I am fighting for, and for all the other victims and survivors, of course."
Messages sent to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office were not returned.
Bis said in a statement, "The president kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club at Mar-a-Lago because he was a creep, and he has been fully exonerated of anything related to Epstein."
In a statement to Newsweek, a Department of Justice spokesperson denounced Monday’s report.
"This ‘report’ is nothing more than a last-ditch effort by House Judiciary Democrats to mislead the public," a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement. "The Department complied with the [Epstein Files Transparency Act], making public the nearly 3 million investigatory documents which were responsive to the Act. The Department also freely offered members of Congress the opportunity to view the files unredacted. All these files were part of FBI investigations that spanned decades and these claims were investigated by agents at the time. In fact, [Maurene] Comey oversaw the SDNY investigation into Epstein and at the time, did not find evidence to bring charges."
DOJ officials declined to discuss the existence of any ongoing investigations, but noted that the Trump administration had prosecuted Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and released all related documents to the public.
The report released Monday by House Judiciary Committee Democrats also accused the DOJ of improperly withholding some Epstein-related records, which had been mandated by law, and impeding investigative efforts to protect the president.
Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, but the connection has been front and center during the midterm campaign, with Democrats spending millions on Epstein-related ads and dropping the report just a week before Election Day.
What Does Beatrice Keul Allege?
According to Monday's report, the allegations are based on extensive discussions between committee staff and Keul over the course of several weeks.
The report said Keul was a 24-year-old model and financial services professional when in November 1993 she was recruited to attend the Donald J. Trump American Dream Pageant. The event was for 16- to 22-year-olds, the report said, but included Keul who had won second place in the Miss Switzerland pageant in 1992 and taken part in the Miss Europe contest later that year.
Trump approached Keul at a press luncheon for his pageant at the Plaza Hotel, which he owned at the time, and introduced himself by saying: "Finally we meet Ms. Keul," the report said. Trump then "promised Keul that he would arrange a visa for her" and said he "personally would ensure her acceptance into New York University (NYU)," according to the report.
She alleged that Epstein approached her shortly afterward and introduced himself as “Don’s best friend” before making similar promises, as well as extending an invitation for her to attend a party at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s club in Florida.
“You know I can take care of you," Epstein reportedly told her. "We organize many parties with Don."
Keul alleges that she was later invited by Trump’s representative to meet with Trump privately in a hotel room.
“He ushered her into the room, where upon entering, Trump reportedly grabbed Keul from behind and forcibly raped her; in the process, tearing her dress and causing bleeding and bruising on multiple parts of her body,” the report said.
Afterward, Trump “sat her on the edge of the bed, repeated his promises to arrange for a visa and NYU admission, and made her promise she would keep quiet," the report said. Keul said that she "finished the pageant in a terrified ‘daze' " according to the report.
She returned to Switzerland and said she declined to take part in another Trump-sponsored pageant in Hawaii weeks later. She said several months later, she received a call from Trump, who repeated his offer to help her with a visa and admission to NYU, but she declined.
Who Is Beatrice Keul?
Keul told The Bad Decisions Podcast with Scott Nathan in July that she works as a bank executive.
She said she had only attended two major beauty pageants, Miss Switzerland and Miss Europe, before she was invited to take part in Trump’s pageant.
She said she lived a quiet life before coming to the United States and that she only took up modeling as a hobby after others encouraged her to do so.
“I had a great life, great family. I was studying. I was learning my languages. I did my diplomas. I was a bank employee. I was super happy,” she said.
She also described herself as having no political affiliation, saying she had not been paid to speak out. “I am Swiss and I am neutral,” she said.
In an interview on Shaun Attwood’s podcast earlier this month, Keul said she was working on a book about her experience with Trump and “the entire predators of the 90s.”
"I look very much forward when it comes out but it’s not an easy exercise," she said.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick, Jason Lemon and Geoffrey Rowland.
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