National Enquirer

===2010s===
====Ted Cruz and Donald Trump====
The ''National Enquirer'' enthusiastically endorsed [[Donald Trump]] for the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]] and published numerous stories promoting his candidacy and denigrating his opponents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/05/09/trumps_tabloid_130505.html|last=Cannon|first=Carl|title=Trump's tabloid|work=RealClearPolitics.com|date=May 9, 2016|access-date=May 15, 2016}}</ref> During the Republican presidential primaries in March 2016, the title ran a story alleging that "political operatives" were investigating whether candidate [[Ted Cruz]], a U.S. Senator from [[Texas]], engaged in extramarital affairs.<ref>Hopper, Jessica. [https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ted-cruz-blames-sleazy-donald-national-enquirer-report/story?id=37932391 "Cruz Blames 'Sleazy Donald' for ''National Enquirer'' Report"], [[ABC News]] (March 25, 2016).</ref><ref name=NBC>Hillyard, Vaughn and Rafferty, Andrew. [http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/ted-cruz-calls-tabloid-report-garbage-n545611 "Ted Cruz Calls Tabloid Report on Alleged Affairs 'Garbage'"], [[NBC News]] (March 25, 2016).</ref> Cruz denied it and said that Trump had used his connections to persuade the ''Enquirer'' to publish the story.<ref name=NBC /> Trump denied involvement.<ref>Gaudino, Nicole.  [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/03/25/ted-cruz-blames-donald-trump-enquirer-affairs-story/82257996/ "Ted Cruz blames Donald Trump for 'Enquirer' affairs story"], ''[[USA Today]]'' (March 25, 2016).</ref>

The ''National Enquirer'' ran another story in April 2016, suggesting that Cruz's father, [[Rafael Cruz]], knew [[John F. Kennedy|JFK]] assassin [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] and worked with Oswald in New Orleans a few months before the assassination.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/ted-cruz-scandal-father-jfk-assassination|title=Ted Cruz's Father – Caught With JFK Assassin|last=Taylor|first=J.R.|date=April 20, 2016}}</ref><ref name=Bump>Bump, Philip.  [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/03/the-50-year-old-mystery-behind-that-photo-of-lee-harvey-oswald/ "The 50-year-old mystery behind that photo of Lee Harvey Oswald"], ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (May 3, 2016).</ref> Trump publicly discussed this story on May 3, 2016 saying to [[Brian Kilmeade]] of [[Fox News]] that "His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald's being — you know, shot. I mean the whole thing is ridiculous".<ref name=Blake>Blake, Aaron.  [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/05/donald-trumps-day-of-contradictions/ "Donald Trump’s day of many contradictions"], ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (May 5, 2016).</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYo5m8R0wcU "DONALD TRUMP FULL INTERVIEW ON FOX & FRIENDS | FOX NEWS (5/3/2016)"] (YouTube).</ref> On May 4, 2016 (a few hours after Cruz lost the [[Indiana Republican primary, 2016|Indiana primary]] and withdrew his candidacy) Trump stated that he did not actually believe the story ("Of course I don't believe that") but the ''Enquirer'' wanted to "let the people read it."<ref name=Blake /> Kilmeade has since expressed regret for not following up on Trump's May 3 comment during that interview.<ref>[http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/kilmeade-regret-trump-rafael-cruz-rumor "Fox Host Regrets Not Pressing Trump When He Linked Cruz's Dad To Oswald"], ''[[Talking Points Memo]]'' (May 5, 2016).</ref> On July 22, 2016, Trump again mentioned the magazine in connection with Cruz's father, saying "I know nothing about his father. I know nothing about Lee Harvey Oswald. But there was a picture on the front page of the ''National Enquirer'' that does have credibility."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Morrow|first1=Brendan|title=Donald Trump Says He Would Reject Ted Cruz Endorsement|url=http://heavy.com/news/2016/07/watch-video-donald-trump-response-respond-ted-cruz-will-reject-endorsement-not-accept-defend-attack-father-wife-heidi/|access-date=July 22, 2016|date=July 22, 2016}}</ref><ref>[https://www.c-span.org/video/?413063-1/donald-trump-says-wont-accept-endorsement-senator-cruz "Donald Trump Remarks in Cleveland, Ohio"], [[C-Span]] (July 22, 2016).  See this video starting at 22:08.</ref>

====Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations====
{{further|Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations}}
The ''National Enquirer'' received, and refused to publish a story from [[Karen McDougal]] about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006 and, in 2016 as his presidential campaign advanced, paid McDougal $150,000 for, among other items, "exclusive life rights to any relationship she has had with a then-married man." ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' said that the tabloid had paid McDougal [[hush money]] and was using the purchase and refusal to publish the story to protect Trump (a technique known as [[catch and kill]]), an allegation the publication denied.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/national-enquirer-shielded-donald-trump-from-playboy-models-affair-allegation-1478309380?mod=e2tw|title=National Enquirer Shielded Donald Trump From Playboy Model's Affair Allegation|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=November 4, 2016|access-date=November 5, 2016}}</ref> In February 2018, after a similar situation involving [[Stormy Daniels]] (not involving the ''National Enquirer'') was confirmed, McDougal confirmed her story to [[Ronan Farrow]] for ''[[The New Yorker]]'', stating that the ''National Enquirer'' had loosened the terms of the contract after Trump was elected but that she was unsure of how much she could discuss under the terms of the agreement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://people.com/politics/donald-trump-karen-mcdougal-affair-national-enquirer/|title=National Enquirer Paid to Kill Story of Playboy Model's Affair with Donald Trump: Report|date=November 5, 2016}}</ref> The publication had also paid $30,000 to an employee at one of Trump's hotels who claimed that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock during the 1980s; the payment came in November 2015, before the paper publicly endorsed Trump, and according to reports in ''The New Yorker'', the title's staff was investigating the story and preparing to publish the employee's claims before ''National Enquirer'' owner [[David Pecker]] personally quashed it.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-national-enquirer-a-donald-trump-rumor-and-another-secret-payment-to-buy-silence-dino-sajudin-david-pecker|title=The ''National Enquirer'', a Trump Rumor, and Another Secret Payment to Buy Silence|first=Ronan|last=Farrow|magazine=The New Yorker|date=April 12, 2018|access-date=April 12, 2018}}</ref>

In late 2015, the parent company of the ''National Enquirer'', [[American Media, Inc.]], paid $30,000 to Dino Sajudin, a doorman at [[Trump Tower]], to obtain the rights to his story in which he alleged Donald Trump had an affair in the 1980s that resulted in the birth of a child. Sajudin in April 2018 identified the woman as Trump's former housekeeper.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/12/media/trump-national-enquirer-doorman/index.html|title=Former doorman involved in story of alleged Trump affair speaks|first=Chris Isidore, Tom Kludt and Sonia|last=Moghe|work=CNN|date=April 12, 2018|access-date=August 25, 2018}}</ref> AMI reporters were given the names of the woman and the alleged child, while Sajudin passed a lie detector test when testifying that he had heard the story from others. Shortly after the payment was made, Pecker ordered the reporters to drop the story.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-national-enquirer-a-donald-trump-rumor-and-another-secret-payment-to-buy-silence-dino-sajudin-david-pecker|title=The ''National Enquirer'', a Trump Rumor, and Another Secret Payment to Buy Silence|last=Farrow|first=Ronan|author-link=Ronan Farrow|date=April 12, 2018|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=April 12, 2018|language=en|issn=0028-792X}}</ref> In April 2018, AMI chief content officer [[Dylan Howard]] denied the story was "spiked" in a so-called "catch and kill" operation, insisting that AMI did not run the story because Sajudin's story lacked credibility.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.apnews.com/f37ecfc4710b468db6a103a245146172|title=$30,000 rumor? Tabloid paid for, spiked, salacious Trump tip|website=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=August 25, 2018}}</ref> CNN obtained a copy of the contract between AMI and Sajudin on August 24, 2018, after AMI had released Sajudin from the contract. CNN published excerpts of the contract, which instructed Sajudin to provide "information regarding Donald Trump's illegitimate child", but did not contain further specifics of Sajudin's story.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/24/politics/trump-tower-doorman-contract-ami/index.html|title=Ex-Trump World Tower doorman releases 'catch-and-kill' contract about alleged Trump affair|first=Sonia|last=Moghe|work=CNN|access-date=August 25, 2018}}</ref>

====Brzezinski, Scarborough, and the Trump administration====
In  June 2017, ''[[Morning Joe]]'' hosts [[Mika Brzezinski]] and [[Joe Scarborough]] stated that senior officials in the Trump administration had tried to [[blackmail]] the two of them using the ''National Enquirer''. According to them, the tabloid threatened to publish a smear article on the couple unless the two personally called Trump and begged him to have the story spiked. They refused, and the title (which did not have direct contact with Scarborough or Brzezinski) published the story. The Trump administration also denied the story; Scarborough claims he has saved phone correspondence to the contrary.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/06/30/media/national-enquirer-donald-trump-joe-scarborough/index.html|title=Scarborough, Brzezinski say White House used ''National Enquirer'' as threat|first=Brian|last=Stelter|work=CNN|date=June 30, 2017|access-date=June 30, 2017}}</ref>

====Jeff Bezos====
{{Seealso|Jeff Bezos phone hacking}}
In February 2019, [[Jeff Bezos]] alleged that the ''National Enquirer'' had threatened to publish private messages and photographs belonging to Bezos and his girlfriend, [[Lauren Sánchez]], if Bezos did not stop ''[[The Washington Post]]'', which he owns, from pursuing journalistic inquiries into how the publication obtained those messages and photographs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/jeff-bezos-accuses-national-enquirer-owner-extortion-blackmail-n969136|title=Jeff Bezos accuses ''National Enquirer'' owner of 'extortion and blackmail'|website=NBC News|access-date=February 8, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/technology/jeff-bezos-national-enquirer-blackmail.html|title=Jeff Bezos Accuses ''National Enquirer'' of 'Extortion and Blackmail'|first=Karen|last=Weise|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/jeff-bezos-national-enquirer-photos-ami-s-alleged-extortion-explained-ncna969876|title=Opinion - AMI played with fire when it threatened Jeff Bezos. Now its getting burned.|website=NBC News}}</ref> Bezos also said that in 2018, the year in which [[Saudi Arabia]]n officials reportedly murdered ''Washington Post'' reporter [[Jamal Khashoggi]], the ''National Enquirer'' had published a glossy magazine, ''The New Kingdom'', promoting Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2019/02/09/national-enquirer-saudi-crown-prince-khashoggi-bezos-marquardt-pkg-nr-vpx.cnn |title=Bezos claims AMI had reason to promote Saudi Arabia |website=cnn.com|date=February 9, 2019 }}</ref>