Tennis player Serena Williams refused to comment on her relationship with Donald Trump even after appearing on his frequently called list. The list was presented during testimony in the criminal trial against the former US president.
Williams (42) retired from professional tennis almost two years ago, and many consider her the greatest player of all time. In an interview published Saturday in the American newspaper The New York Timesjournalist David Marchese asked him why he appeared among Trump’s contacts.
“Is that what this interview is going to be about?” he responded.
“When someone has the opportunity to speak with a president, I am interested in knowing what the topic of conversation was,” Marchese explained.
“I have spoken with many presidents. I spoke with Barack [Obama]talk to [Bill y Hillary] Clinton. I’ve talked to everyone who’s been president since I was born, in case you didn’t know,” Williams replied.
“Why do you think they wanted to chat with you? “What did you want to know?” asked the reporter.
“Don’t know. “I don’t want to talk about it,” Williams said.
Last month Trump was found guilty of all 34 charges brought against him in his bribery trial. The charges stem from a payment made shortly before the 2016 presidential election to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who alleged she had an extramarital affair with Trump in 2006. Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to cover up a payment made to the actress to prevent her from speaking.
Williams became linked to the trial when a former assistant to the former president revealed that she was part of the group of people with whom Trump spoke “most frequently” in early 2017, when his presidential term began.
Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s former White House executive assistant, took the stand in May. During her testimony prosecutors showed emails between Westerhout and Rhona Graff, a Trump Organization employee.
“Could you ask the girls for a list of the people he talked to most often? I don’t want to have to bother you all the time, although I will still call often,” Westerhout wrote to Graff on January 24, 2017, just four days after Trump’s inauguration.
Shortly afterward, Graff sent him an Excel spreadsheet showing the people Trump talked to most, including Williams.
The list also included Trump’s relatives; his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who testified against him during the trial; and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg. Also there were news anchors Bill O’Reilly, Jeanine Pirro, and Joe Scarborough.
Williams is believed to have allowed Trump to score a point in a match the two played in April 2015, during the opening of a new tennis center at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia (USA). Trump announced his first presidential bid that summer.
Translation by Sara Pignatiello
