A Swiss Beauty Queen in Trump’s Manhattan

When a twenty-two-year-old Swiss bank employee placed second in the 1992 Miss Switzerland pageant, the glitz of international modeling seemed like a harmless adventure. Armed with naive trust and modest ambition, Béatrice Keul soon received a signed invitation from Donald Trump to compete in the American Dream Pageant in New York. What followed in 1993, she now reports, was less of a dream and more of a brutal introduction to the shadowy mechanics of Manhattan’s elite.

According to Keul, the glitter of early 1990s New York masked a predatory ecosystem. Trump, who was busy establishing an empire of beauty contests that eventually included Miss Universe and Miss USA, operated in the same high-flying social circles as the late Jeffrey Epstein. Keul recalls meeting Epstein at a press event in the Plaza Hotel, where he offered to take care of her while claiming to be close friends with the real estate mogul. Shortly thereafter, a staff member escorted her to Trump’s private suite, where she alleges a severe sexual assault took place.

For decades, Keul kept the experience to herself. Only in 2024 did the now 56-year-old come forward publicly, linking her story to a broader pattern of behavior exploited by Epstein and his powerful associates. Today, she has joined forces with other accusers under the banner of the Survivor Sisters, organizing collective legal steps. She reports facing threats since breaking her silence, illustrating the personal cost of challenging entrenched power structures long after the facts transpired.

For his part, Donald Trump has consistently rejected all accusations of sexual misconduct, including those made by Keul. To date, there has been no judicial finding of liability or guilt regarding these specific claims. While at least 28 women have leveled similar allegations against the former American president, the legal reality remains unproven in court. Epstein himself died in a federal prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial, leaving behind an unfinished accounting of his global network.

Keul’s late-emerging account serves as a bleak study in how wealth, glamour, and youthful trust intersect. The innocence of a young woman from the Alpine republic collided directly with an aggressive arena where human capital was routinely appraised and traded. Whether the ongoing collective lawsuits yield formal legal resolution or merely keep old scandals alive, the narrative underscores the durable shadow cast by New York's 1990s power brokers.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com