JENNIE’S ex was forced out of the White House over accusations of domestic abuse. Then Donald Trump stuck up for him.

“THE president of the United States just called you a liar.”

That was the inescapable conclusion Jennie Willoughby’s friend reached after the pair watched Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office on Friday.

Ms Willoughby’s ex-husband Rob Porter, a senior aide to Mr Trump, had just been forced out of the White House after being accused of domestic abuse by both Ms Willoughby and his other former spouse, Colbie Holderness.

Both women say Mr Porter physically and verbally abused them during their marriages.

Ms Willoughby obtained a restraining order against him in 2010, and when a photo of Ms Holderness with a black eye recently emerged in the media it became the catalyst for Mr Porter’s removal from the White House.

And yet, as Ms Willoughby and her friend watched on, Mr Trump took Mr Porter’s side.

“We found out about it recently and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well and it’s a tough time for him,” Mr Trump said of the allegations.

“He did a very good job when he was in the White House. And we hope he has a wonderful career, and he will have a great career ahead of him. But it was very sad when we heard about it and certainly he’s also very sad now.

“He also, as you probably know, says he’s innocent and I think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he’s innocent, so you have to talk to him about that, but we absolutely wish him well, he did a very good job when he was in the White House.”

Mr Trump did not mention Ms Willoughby or Ms Holderness.

Then, as if there was any doubt where he stood on the matter, Mr Trump made his views even clearer with a tweet over the weekend.

“People’s lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused — life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?” the president said.

Mr Porter, for his part, has called the allegations against him “outrageous”, “simply false”, “vile” and part of a “co-ordinated smear campaign”.

Ms Willoughby responded to Mr Trump’s words in a piece for TIME magazine today.

“There it is again. The words ‘mere allegation’ and ‘falsely accused’ meant to imply that I am a liar. That Colbie Holderness is a liar. That the work Rob was doing in the White House was of higher value than our mental, emotional or physical wellbeing. That his professional contributions are worth more than the truth,” Ms Willoughby wrote.

“When Donald Trump repeated twice that Rob declared his innocence, I was floored.

“If the most powerful people in the nation do not believe my story of abuse in the face of overwhelming evidence, then what hope do others have of being heard?”

THE ACCUSATIONS

Ms Willoughby first told her story on Instagram, without explicitly naming Mr Porter, all the way back in April of last year.

“The first time he called me a ‘f***ing b*tch’ was on our honeymoon. I found out years later he kicked his first wife on theirs. A month later he physically prevented me from leaving the house. Less than two months after that, I filed a protective order with the police because he punched in the glass on the front door while I was locked inside,” she wrote.

“Just after our one year anniversary, he pulled me, naked and dripping, from the shower to yell at me.

“Everyone loved him. People commented all the time how lucky I was. Strangers complimented him to me every time we went out. But in my home, the abuse was insidious. The threats were personal. The terror was real. And yet I stayed.”

She elaborated in a lengthier blog post published on the same day.

“When I tried to get help, I was counselled to consider carefully how what I said might affect his career. And so I kept my mouth shut and stayed. I was told, yes, he was deeply flawed, but then again so was I,” Ms Willoughby said.

“If he was a monster all the time, perhaps it would have been easier to leave. But he could be kind and sensitive. And so I stayed. He cried and apologised. And so I stayed.

“He belittled my intelligence and destroyed my confidence. And so I stayed. I felt ashamed and trapped.”

The post ended with a surprising piece of empathy towards her former husband: “My experience made me stronger and able to love more deeply. But my heart breaks for him. In the end, who is the real victim of his choices?”

Mr Porter’s relative anonymity was blown last week when the Daily Mail published an interview with Ms Willoughby, including a comment from Ms Holderness confirming she had left because Mr Porter was “emotionally and physically abusive”.

Shortly afterwards, the Intercept reported both ex-wives had told the FBI Mr Porter abused them.

That happened because the agency was conducting a background check on Mr Porter to determine whether he would receive security clearance for his job at the White House — a test he eventually failed.

Ms Holderness provided the FBI with photographic evidence of his abuse, and gave the same photos to the Intercept.

“He threw me down on the bed and punched me in the face,” she told the site, referring to an incident during her honeymoon with Mr Porter in 2003. “I think he was shocked that he had lost control to that extent.”

Initially, the White House stuck by its senior staffer. Mr Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly and press secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders provided particularly glowing references for the Daily Mail’s story.

“Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honour and I can’t say enough good things about him. He is a friend, a confidante and a trusted professional. I am proud to serve alongside him,” Mr Kelly said.

“I have worked directly with Rob Porter every day for the last year and the person I know is someone of the highest integrity and exemplary character. Those of us who have the privilege of knowing him are better people because of it,” Ms Huckabee-Sanders said.

As more details emerged however, including the evidence of Ms Holderness’s black eye, both officials had to walk back their comments.

Soon afterwards, Mr Porter resigned.

By the time Mr Trump himself publicly addressed the situation on Friday, Ms Willoughby had appeared on CNN and NBC, further elaborating on Mr Porter’s alleged behaviour.

She told CNN anchor Anderson Cooper that during their marriage she lived in a state of “low-grade, constant terror, of not knowing what I might do to set something off”.

But she also said Mr Porter had plenty of redeeming qualities, and emphasised she had “no vendetta” against him.

“The reality is he’s not a monster. He is an intelligent, kind, chivalrous, caring, professional man, and he’s deeply troubled, and angry, and violent. I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive,” she said.

That being said, she did have a grim warning for Mr Porter’s current girlfriend, White House communications director Hope Hicks.

Ms Hicks is still with Mr Porter, and helped draft the initial White House statements defending him.

“I don’t think he’s changed. I don’t think he has done the self-reflective work to acknowledge this issue,” Ms Willoughby said.

“If I’m being frank with you, if he hasn’t already been abusive with Hope, he will, and particularly now that he’s under a lot of stress and scrutiny. That’s when the behaviours come out. If he hasn’t already, he will.”

“So you’re saying you’re worried about Hope Hicks?” Mr Cooper asked.

“I am worried,” she replied.