Donald Trump has issued a statement after Stormy Daniels was ordered to pay him $300,000.
The adult film star, real name Stephanie Clifford, must fork out hundreds of thousands in legal fees following a federal court rejecting her bid to overturn a lower court decision in her defamation lawsuit against the billionaire.
In the ruling last Friday (18 March), the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said Daniels failed to file a notice of appeal within the required 30 days.
Therefore, it stated it had no jurisdiction over her appeal, and she is now liable for a fee in the region of $300,000.
Following the ruling, Trump released a statement, in which he said he was 'pleased' with the result.
The former president said: "The lawsuit was a purely political stunt that never should have started, or allowed to happen, and I am pleased that my lawyers were able to bring it to a successful conclusion after the court fully rejected her appeal.
"Now all I have to do is wait for all of the money she owes me."
He added: "P.S. The Fake News probably won’t report this story!"
Last month, Daniels said she was 'far more' angry with her former lawyer, Michael Avenatti, than she was with Trump.
She claimed her alleged encounters with 75-year-old Trump meant 'nothing' could scare her.
Avenatti was recently found guilty of stealing $300,000 from Daniels, with prosecutors saying he defrauded her out of money she was owed to write a book about her claimed affair with Trump.
After being questioned on the stand by Avenatti, who represented himself during the trial, Daniels mocked her former lawyer in an interview.
She said she considered his actions far worse than any treatment she experienced from Trump.
"He doesn’t scare me. I’ve seen Donald Trump naked. Nothing Michael Avenatti can say will scare me," Daniels said during an appearance on Mediaite.
"I only met Trump a handful of times, not even. I didn’t consider him to be a friend. I didn’t have private conversations, I didn’t trust him, and he certainly didn’t steal from me," she explained.
"Michael Avenatti betrayed my trust in every way possible. He lied to my face. He lied about me."
Avenatti was convicted of defrauding his former client by a federal jury in New York last month. Prosecutors said he had forged Daniels' signature on publishing contracts and directed almost $300,000 in advances to his own bank account.
The 50-year-old is due to be sentenced in June and faces a maximum of 22 years in prison.
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