WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump compared himself to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday following a fresh allegation that Trump sexually assaulted a woman in the mid-1990s.

Trump vehemently denied the accusation and said it was akin to the accusations of sexual assault that roiled Kavanaugh's confirmation to the high court in 2018.

"People have to be careful because they are playing with very dangerous territory," Trump told reporters outside the White House before departing to Camp David. "When they do that, and it's happening more and more, when you look at what happened to Justice Kavanaugh, and you look at what happened to others, you can't do that for the sake of publicity."

E. Jean Carroll, a magazine writer and advice columnist, alleges that in 1995 she encountered Trump at a high-end department store in Manhattan and agreed to help him shop for a gift for a woman. It was there, she says, that Trump attacked her in a dressing room. She is telling her story for the first time in a new book, excerpts of which were published in New York Magazine.

Carroll spoke Friday to The Washington Post, as did a friend who Carroll confided in at the time. The friend corroborated the details of the alleged assault.

In a statement released Friday night, Trump said it never happened and that he did not know Carroll. Asked about it Saturday morning, Trump again said he had no idea who Caroll was.

Asked about a photograph that shows Trump from behind with his former wife, Ivana, and chatting with Carroll, Trump was dismissive, saying: "Standing with my coat on in a line, give me a break. With my back to the camera. I have no idea who she is."

Kavanaugh also denied knowing Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her at a house party in high school. Ford testified under oath in Congress about the incident.

Carroll's accusation adds to those of at least 16 other women who have alleged Trump groped or kissed them without their consent.