Shark-related nonprofits have been inundated with charitable donations following reports President Trump once told adult film actress Stormy Daniels "I hope all sharks die," according to one news outlet.
“We have been receiving donations in Trump’s name since the story was published,” Atlantic White Shark Conservancy co-founder and CEO Cynthia Wilgren told MarketWatch, adding many of the contributions were from first-time donors.
While dismissing Trump's comments about sharks as "ignorant," Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's Paul Watson said his group in Burbank, Calif., had experienced the same phenomenon.
“Anything that focuses attention on the plight of sharks worldwide is valuable, so I guess in that way, the president did good service,” Watson said.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, told InTouch during a 2011 interview, which was published last week, detailing her alleged extramarital affair with Trump that he was "terrified" of the animals.
"The strangest thing about that night — this was the best thing ever. You could see the television from the little dining room table and he was watching 'Shark Week' and he was watching a special about the U.S.S. something and it sank and it was like the worst shark attack in history," Daniels told the magazine of her second encounter with Trump at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California.
"He is obsessed with sharks. Terrified of sharks. He was like, 'I donate to all these charities and I would never donate to any charity that helps sharks. I hope all the sharks die,'" Daniels continued.
Trump has denied getting entangled with Daniels a year after he wed first lady Melania Trump in 2005.
InTouch delayed printing Daniel's on-the-record quotes after Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened to sue the publication.
Rumors of Trump's alleged tryst surfaced after the Wall Street Journal reported Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence about the affair leading up to the 2016 election.
