WASHINGTON – President Trump returned to Washington from his weekend at Mar-a-Lago to face the highly anticipated Stormy Daniels interview that aired Sunday night on CBS. He's also facing continued criticism of the $1.3 trillion spending bill he reluctantly signed Friday.
In the "60 Minutes" interview, Daniels, an adult film star, laid out the details of her alleged 2006 affair with Trump and the reason she decided to speak about it publicly.
"It was very important to me to be able to defend myself," she explained.
Daniels said she was intimidated by an attempt to keep her silent about her one-time sexual encounter with Trump.
"A guy walked up on me and said to me, 'Leave Trump alone. Forget the story.' And then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, 'That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom.' And then he was gone," Daniels said.
Daniels got a $130,000 payment to stay quiet days before the 2016 election and signed a non-disclosure agreement, which she tried to invalidate.
Trump denies the allegations as many evangelical leaders continue to stand behind him.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told CBN News Trump should be judged on his behavior and accomplishments in office.
"Well to date, what has the president done?" said Perkins. "Well the president has not engaged, to our knowledge, and I think we would know, any of the behavior that he did in the past, prior to the election. What he has done is he's actually followed through on political promises."
It remains to be seen what political impact, if any, the Daniels story will have.
Meanwhile, Washington continues to grapple with the huge spending bill Trump grudgingly signed Friday. He defended the measure over the weekend, tweeting that it restores the US military, creates jobs and includes money for the border wall.
Many conservatives are blasting the $1.3 trillion measure, which more Democrats in the Senate voted for than Republicans.
Trump said he had to do it but promised it was a one-time deal.
"I will never sign another bill like this again," he said Friday. "I'm not going to do it again."
Conservatives not only worry about this current spending bill; many point out that the federal deficit is expected to start growing again and projected to send the national debt from $21 trillion to over $30 trillion in the next several years.
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