Trump accused of sexually assaulting a journalist

A senior journalist has accused US President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her over 20 years ago.

E. Jean Carroll, 75, a television show host and magazine columnist, made the accusation in an essay published on Friday in NY Magazine, the local media reported.

She said the incident happened in a Bergdorf Goodman changing room, in New York, in the mid 1990s.

Trump had greeted her as: "Hey, you're that advice lady!" to which she replied: "Hey, you're that real-estate tycoon!"

He then sought her help to buy a gift for a woman.

Both settled on a gift of lingerie, and when he asked her to model it, she jokingly said he must try it on first, a leading media outlet reported.

Carroll, the 16th woman to accuse Trump of sexual assault, wrote that inside the changing room, he had pinned her to the wall.

"He opens the overcoat, unzips his pants, and, forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway - or completely, I'm not certain - inside me.

"It turns into a colossal struggle.

"I finally get a knee up high enough to push him out and off and I turn, open the door, and run out of the dressing room."