Trump breaks silence, claims no knowledge of porn star payment
GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / MANDEL NGANThe porn actress Stephanie Clifford -- who goes by the screen name Stormy Daniels -- claims she had an affair with Donald Trump more than a decade ago
US President Donald Trump broke a two month silence Thursday about allegations he slept with a porn star, insisting that he did not pay her $130,000 hush money.
Trump offered a flat "no" when asked if he knew about the payment that was made by his lawyer shortly before the 2016 election.
The actress, Stephanie Clifford -- who goes by the screen name Stormy Daniels -- claims it was money paid to cover up a tryst more than a decade ago.
Trump's long-time lawyer Michael Cohen has admitted to making the payment, but has not indicated why he made it.
He has accused Daniels of breaching a non disclosure agreement.
Trump said he did not know why Cohen made the payment. "You'll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You'll have to ask Michael."
Asked if he knew where the money came from, Trump told reporters on Air Force One, "no, I don't know."
That claim was immediately challenged by Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti.
"We very much look forward to testing the truthfulness of Mr. Trump's feigned lack of knowledge concerning the $130k payment," he tweeted.
"As history teaches us, it is one thing to deceive the press and quite another to do so under oath."
Woods one-over in 'awesome' return to Augusta National
GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / JAMIE SQUIRETiger Woods is back competing at the Masters for the first time since 2015
Tiger Woods returned to Augusta National with a one-over par 73 that he said was enough to keep him in the mix in his first Masters in three years.
"Seventy-three is fine," Woods said. "It's really hard to run away from it, but it's also really easy to lose it out there.
"By the end of the week there will be a bunch of guys with a chance to win this tournament."
The leaderboard was tightly bunched as the first round moved into its later stages.
Tony Finau, starting a day after injuring his ankle celebrating a hole in one in the par-three contest, was four-under through 17.
In the clubhouse, newcomer Li Haotong was among five players sharing the early lead on three-under par 69.
Li, the first Chinese man to crack the top 50 in the world rankings, moved to four-under with an impressive run of three birdies over Augusta's Amen Corner trio of holes.
But the 22-year-old gave a shot back with a bogey at 18 to fall into a tie with former British Open champion Henrik Stenson, Americans Patrick Reed and Charley Hoffman and Canadian Adam Hadwin.
Woods, who calls himself a walking miracle less than 12 months after spinal fusion surgery, produced a pair of top-five finishes on the PGA Tour this year to fuel expectations that he could seize a fifth green jacket -- and a 15th major title -- this week.
"It has been awesome this entire comeback," Woods said. "I got a standing ovation on the range. Coming up to the first tee, the people come out of the clubhouse and the putting green, they're really into it."
The 14-time major winner thrilled an enthusiastic gallery with a delicate, downhill birdie putt at the third.
But he followed with back-to-back bogeys at the fourth and fifth as he made the turn one-over.
AFP / Gal ROMAThe course for the 2018 Masters Golf tournament
There was more trouble lurking around Amen Corner, where Woods was right off the tee at 11 and his shot from the trees hit a fan and dropped into the rough.
"It was a great shot there," said Woods, who ended up with a bogey. "Unfortunately people ran out and it clipped them. Otherwise it's just short right of the green, an easy up and down from there, where I was trying to leave it."
A dip in Rae's Creek at 12 cost him a shot, although that could have been worse. Woods rolled in an impressive 18-footer to limit the damage.
He pulled strokes back at 14 and 16 and produced two crisp tee shots at 17 and 18 as he capped his round with a pair of solid pars.
"I could have easily let it slip away. And I fought hard to get it back and I'm back in this championship," said Woods, who carded a first-round 74 in 2005 on the way to his most recent Masters title.
- 'We had a good day' -
Australian Marc Leishman played alongside Woods and topped the leaderboard at four-under before finding the water at 15 on the way to a double bogey.
"We had a good day out there," said Leishman, who was joined in the clubhouse on 70 by Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and former Masters champion Zach Johnson.
"I looked at it as a positive and preparation for later in the week," he said of playing with Woods. "Hopefully we're both there on Sunday afternoon."
While Tiger has drawn the lion's share of attention this week, the field is packed with an array of in-form players.
An eagle at the par-five eighth took 2015 winner Jordan Spieth to two-under at the turn.
- Garcia nightmare -
Five-time major-winner Phil Mickelson, his sights set on a fourth green jacket at the age of 47, was at even par through nine holes.
Getty/AFP / Andrew RedingtonPhil Mickelson of the United States plays a shot from a bunker on the second hole during the first round of the 2018 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 5, 2018 in Augusta, Georgia
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, seeking to complete a career Grand Slam with a first Masters title, was one-under through eight.
Spain's Sergio Garcia, however, endured a nightmare start in his bid to join Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to successfully defend the Masters crown.
Garcia matched the most strokes needed on any hole in Masters history with his 13 at the par-five 15th -- where he hit five consecutive balls in the water.
Tommy Nakajima at the par-five 13th in 1978 and Tom Weiskopf in 1980 on the par-three 12th have also seen 13s on their Masters scorecards.
Garcia signed for a nine-over par 81.
Trump vows to send 2,000 to 4,000 troops to Mexican border
AFP / Mandel NGANPresident Donald Trump said the National Guard deployment to the southern US border would range "anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000"
US President Donald Trump said Thursday he wants to send up to 4,000 troops to the border with Mexico, giving a first indication of the size of the surprise deployment.
Trump said the National Guard deployment would range "anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000," and he would "probably keep" personnel there until his border wall is built "or a large portion of them."
That could spell a long deployment, with costs that Trump admitted the White House was still "looking at."
Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have balked at taxpayers funding the wall project. They have provided less than a tenth of the $18 billion Trump requested.
But the president has claimed that the flow of migrants over the border is a national security threat that needs to be addressed.
If 4,000 troops were deployed, that would be more than the United States currently has in Syria and about half as many as the number of US troops in Iraq.
The US National Guard has previously been deployed to help patrol the southern border, in 2010 under former president Barack Obama, and from 2006-2008 under George W. Bush.
Both deployments were limited to around a year.
Trump has been praised by Republicans for the decision, but Democrats described it as "rash and politically motivated."
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto lashed out at his US counterpart Thursday amid growing tensions, saying "threatening or disrespectful attitudes" were unjustified.
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