Trump brands groping claims as 'preposterous and ludicrous'
Jamie Roberton
Former Health and Science Producer
Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore
Donald Trump is fighting to save his presidential campaign after more women came forward to accuse the Republican nominee of groping and sexual assault.
The allegations, printed in several US media outlets, come less than a week after a video from 2005 was released which showed Trump making vulgar comments about groping women.
Trump has vehemently denied the claims and threatened to take legal action.
Here's what you need to know about the latest accusations and where it leaves the race for the White House.
The new allegations
Two women told the New York Times that Trump groped or kissed them without their consent.
Jessica Leeds, now 74, said that Trump lifted the armrest before grabbing her breasts and putting his hand up her skirt in the first-class cabin of a flight more than three decades ago.
“He was like an octopus - his hands were everywhere,” she said.
Another alleged victim, Rachel Cooks, told the newspaper that Trump started kissing her on the lips outside a lift in Trump tower when she was a 22-year-old receptionist there.
“I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that.”
Other reports also emerged on Wednesday evening.
Two Miss USA contestants told the Guardian that Trump deliberately walked in on them when they were naked in a dressing room in Indiana in 2001, while BuzzFeed spoke to a 1997 contestant who said Trump did the same thing.
People Magazine reporter Natasha Stoynoff also claims that Trump attempted to force himself on her before she interviewed him and his wife in 2005.
The Palm Beach Post also posted a story about a woman who alleged that Trump groped her during an event in Florida in 2003.
CBS released footage of Trump looking at a young girl as she went up an escalator and saying: “I am going to be dating her in 10 years. Can you believe it?”
Trump's furious denial
Trump tried to dismiss the allegations as an establishment conspiracy theory, made up by his opponent Hillary Clinton, his accusers and the press - all of whom he branded “horrible, horrible liars”.
He also claimed he had "substantial evidence" to disapprove the accusations but did not offer this evidence, instead saying it will be made available "in an appropriate way and at an appropriate time".
Trump has threatened legal action against the New York Times.
The paper responded to the mogul with a withering rebuke.
"The essence of a libel claim, of course, is the protection of one's reputation," its lawyer wrote in a letter to Trump's legal team.
“Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr Trump through his own words and actions has already created for himself.”
Trump's team have rallied around him.
Ex-Republican candidate, Ben Carson, labelled the claims as "a bunch of crap", while Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager, suggested the accusers were politically motivated due to the length of time it took for them to come forward.
“If this incident had been so important to them, they could have - alleged incidents - it could have talked about this many, many, many times, many opportunities,” Lewandowski, now a paid CNN contributor, said.
Meanwhile, sources within the Trump camp say the candidate is planning more attacks against Bill Clinton.
Bloomberg quoted a senior Trump adviser saying the campaign will "soon bring forward new accusers".
Clinton's campaign condemns
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's spokeswoman, leapt on the allegations as fresh evidence that Trump treats women badly.
“This disturbing story sadly fits everything we know about the way Donald Trump has treated women,” Palmieri said.
“These reports suggest that he lied on the debate stage and that the disgusting behavior he bragged about in the tape are more than just words.”
Tim Kaine, Clinton's running mate, said he was not surprised by the claims.
"I felt like OK, how many days is it going to be until folks are coming out and saying, 'No that's exactly how he treated me' and now we're seeing that happen so not surprised but it is shocking," he told The View.
First lady's devastating rebuke
Michelle Obama, campaigning in New Hampshire for Clinton, delivered a devastating attack on Mr Trump's comments about women and alleged sexual misconduct.
“I can’t believe that I’m saying that a candidate for president of the United States has bragged about sexually assaulting women,” a visibly emotional first lady said.
“And I can’t stop thinking about this. It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted.”
"Enough is enough, this has got to stop right now."
Clinton later tweeted that she was "in awe" of Obama's speech.
Clinton edging closer to the White House
Hillary Clinton is pulling ahead in the polls and looks on course to become the first female president - despite having to deal with her own problems with WikiLeaks continuing to release potentially damaging hacked emails from her campaign chair John Podesta.
Trump has been on the back foot since Friday when a video from 2005 was leaked to the Washington Post showing Trump boasting that he could use his fame to kiss and grope women without permission - including grabbing "them by the p***y".
He defended the comments as "locker room banter" and vehemently denied he had ever done anything that he had crudely described during Sunday's presidential debate.
Trump's campaign is floundering and these latest allegation will do nothing to help him salvage his bid for the White House.
Analysis
ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore writes: