Trump: Joe Scarborough Begged Me To Kill National ENQUIRER Story

Source: INSTAR Images

Jun. 30 2017, Published 3:13 p.m. ET

The National ENQUIRER has responded to bombshell claims from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, denying any involvement with the White House to force the MSNBC co-hosts into engaging with President Donald Trump.

"At the beginning of June we accurately reported a story that recounted the relationship between Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the truth of which is not in dispute. At no time did we threaten either Joe or Mika or their children in connection with our reporting on the story. We have no knowledge of any discussions between the White House and Joe and Mika about our story, and absolutely no involvement in those discussions," Dylan Howard, Chief Content Officer and Vice President for American Media Inc., said in a statement on Friday.

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As reported, Brzezinski and Scarborough alleged that they were blackmailed by White House officials with an unfavorable National ENQUIRER story.

The claims came after the pair engaged in a heated Twitter battle Thursday night with the president.

Scarborough officially addressed the incident on Friday morning's edition of Morning Joe.

"We got a call that, 'Hey, the National Enquirer is going to run a negative story against you guys. . .' And they said, 'If you call the president up, and you apologize for your coverage, then he will pick up the phone and basically spike this story,'" Scarborough claimed, alleging that "three people at the very top of the administration" called him about the matter.

Meanwhile, Brzezinski suggested otherwise.

"Let me explain what they were threatening," she said. "They were calling my children. They were calling close friends."

"These calls persisted for quite some time, and then Joe had the conversations that he had with the White House where they said 'Oh, this could go away.'" Brzezinski added.