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United States President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump recently celebrated 20 years of marriage, coinciding with Trump assuming the presidency for a second term. As the couple embarks on a new chapter in the White House, past statements by Salma Hayek have resurfaced. In these statements, she revealed that Trump had attempted to court her years ago, even while she was in a relationship. This has led many to wonder whether the Mexican actress could have become First Lady instead of the current Slovenian-born former model.
In October 2016, shortly before the presidential election that Trump would ultimately win, Salma spoke about Trump's attempts to ask her out. "When I met that man, I had a boyfriend, and he tried to befriend him to get my home phone number," she shared on "El Show del Mandril" on Radio Centro 93.9 in Los Angeles. "He got my number and would call me to invite me out," recounted the Veracruz-born actress, who supported Hillary Clinton during that election.
© Amy SussmanSalma noted that Trump retaliated after she rejected his advances. "When I told him I wouldn't go out with him, even if I didn't have a boyfriend, he called... well, he didn't say he called, but someone told the National Enquirer," she recalled. "Someone told the National Enquirer—I won't say who, but everyone knows anything he wants out in the open appears in the National Enquirer—that he didn't want to go out with me because I was too short," said the "Frida" star.
"Later, he left me a voicemail: 'Can you believe it? Who would say something like that? I don't want people thinking that about you,'" she shared. "He thought I'd want to go out with him so people wouldn't think that was the reason he wasn't interested," Hayek explained. Today, Salma is happily married to French businessman François-Henri Pinault, the father of her daughter, Valentina Paloma.
© Getty ImagesHow Did Trump Get Salma's Phone Number?
In June 2017, during an appearance on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah," Salma recounted Trump's attempts to date her once again. This time, she shared how their initial interaction took place. It all started when she felt cold at an event, and Trump, sitting behind her, immediately draped his coat over her shoulders. "I turned around, and my boyfriend, so charming and kind, said hello [to Trump]," she recalled. "Trump said, 'Sorry, your girlfriend looked cold, so I offered my coat.' Then he kept talking to my boyfriend."
© Getty Images for The Met Museum/According to Salma, Trump continued conversing with her boyfriend—whose identity she chose not to reveal and later invited her and her partner to visit his hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, if they were ever in the area. Allegedly, this is how he obtained their phone numbers. However, Salma revealed that Trump called her directly instead of calling her boyfriend.
© New York Daily News Archive"He's asking me out, and I said, 'What about my boyfriend? Are you crazy? You're asking me out knowing I have a boyfriend?'" the actress recounted before revealing Trump's response. "'He's not good enough for you. He's not important; he's not big enough for you. You should go out with me,'" she remembered. Trevor Noah jokingly responded, "Trump was right," since Salma eventually married French billionaire François-Henri Pinault in 2009.
