One Detail in Trump's 'Golden Shower' Denial Raises Questions

Donald Trump has raised eyebrows online after again denying he engaged in a "golden shower" with "four hookers" in a Moscow hotel room, as alleged in the 2016 Steele dossier, even though the document doesn't give a number for those it claims were involved.

The dossier was compiled by Christopher Steele, formerly head of the Russia desk at Britain's MI6 intelligence service, in 2016 on behalf of a firm working for the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. It contained a number of unverified allegations including claims the Russian state held compromising material on Trump as a result of his activities at a Moscow hotel, which one source claimed took place in 2013. Trump has consistently denied the allegation and in October, launched a lawsuit in London against Steele's company, claiming it had caused him "personal and reputational damage and distress."

Following his election in November 2016, Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner, faced repeated accusations that his campaign was either linked to or compromised by the Russian state. The 2019 Mueller report, produced by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, claimed Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election "in sweeping and systematic fashion." However, it "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government" in these efforts.

The Steele dossier, published in full by Buzzfeed just days after Trump's inauguration as president in January 2017, alleged Russia had "kompromat," or compromising material, on Trump as a result of his "personal obsessions and sexual perversions."

Specifically, it cited a source who claimed Trump had hired the presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Moscow, where he knew Barack and Michelle Obama had previously stayed, before "defiling the bed where they had slept by employing a number of prostitutes to perform a 'golden shower' (urination) show in front of him."

Addressing a rally of his supporters in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on November 18, Trump again denied the report and said his wife Melania hadn't believed it.

Referencing the allegations, Trump said: "He was with four hookers. You think that was good to go up and tell my wife 'it's not true darling I love you very much—it's not true!'

"Actually that one she didn't believe because she said 'he's a germophobe he's not into that you know.' He's not into golden showers at they say they called it, he's not. I don't like that idea. No I thought that would be a big problem, I was going to have a rough night but that one she was very good on."

Newsweek has reached out to Donald Trump via email and the online press inquiry form on his official website.

Trump's obsession with hygiene is well recorded, with Politico reporting in 2019 that he was "solidifying his standing as the most germ-conscious man to ever lead the free world" after entering the White House.

However, a number of social media commentators questioned why Trump had referred to "four hookers," as this figure isn't included in the Steele dossier.

X, formerly Twitter, user Karen Piper commented: "I don't remember 'four' (hookers) being mentioned in the Steele dossier [hushed face emoji]."

Similarly, a second X user, Teresa Freeman, wrote: "I don't think it's even been reported that it was '4' hookers. I think he just admitted it was '4' hookers."

A third commented: "With 4 hookers? He is giving a lot of detail for someone who knows nothing about it."

In 2022 in Florida, a lawsuit filed by Trump against Steele, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and 25 other people alleging that they conspired to undermine his 2016 campaign by spreading false information about his ties to Russia was thrown out by a federal judge.