Roughly one year later, Madeleine Westerhout appeared on “Fox & Friends” to share what prompted her to make those disparaging comments about Donald Trump. “On a rare day off, after a couple of drinks by the pool, I accepted an invitation to an off-the-record dinner with four reporters and a White House colleague of mine, and at that dinner, I said some things that I didn’t mean and that I never should have said,” Westerhout shared in 2020. “And I deeply regret that, but I take full responsibility for my actions that night, and really regret that I hurt people that I care about very, very much.” However, she also revealed that she wouldn’t allow the experience to define her forever.
Westerhout’s comments echoed the politician’s comments from a year earlier when he implied that alcohol had influenced her commentary. In August 2019, the former reality star addressed the press about Westerhout. “I think she said some things. And she called me. She was very upset. She was very down,” he told reporters, according to People. “And she said she was drinking a little bit. And she was with reporters, and everything she said was off the record.” Trump, who acknowledged again the severity of her comments, also revealed that he didn’t feel her drinking was an excuse for what she’d said. “She mentioned a couple of things about my children.” Still, Trump called her a “good person” and said she was great at her job.
