Closing summary
Donald Trump’s criminal trial entered a new stage on Tuesday with testimony from Stormy Daniels, the adult film star at the center of his hush-money scandal. Daniels testified for nearly four hours today, and is expected to return to the stand on Thursday.
Here’s a recap of what happened today:
Daniels testified that she and Trump had a sexual liaison in 2006 that left her nervous and ashamed. Prosecutors allege that in 2015, Trump, his then lawyer Michael Cohen and tabloid honcho David Pecker plotted to bury stories that could thwart his Republican presidential bid. Cohen allegedly shuttled a $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels less than two weeks before the 2016 presidential election, to keep her from going public about her claimed sexual liaison with Trump.
Daniels said she had met Trump at a celebrity golf match in Lake Tahoe, and that she had gone to his hotel room under the belief that they would be getting dinner after meeting there. Per instructions from Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller, she arrived at his penthouse to find Trump wearing “silk or satin pyjamas” and she asked him to change.
Daniels said Trump repeatedly grilled Daniels on her time in the adult industry, including: “What about testing? Do you worry about STDs?” He asked whether she had been tested. She later testified that Trump did not use a condom during their sexual encounter.
Daniels said there was a brief discussion of Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, during which he said they slept in separate rooms. She also said he compared her to his daughter, Ivanka Trump: “You remind me of my daughter. She is smart and blonde and beautiful and people underestimate her as well.” She said that during their conversation, Trump dangled the idea of putting her on his TV show The Apprentice.
Daniels said she used the restroom and when she exited, she saw Trump on the bed in his boxers and a T-shirt. “I just thought: oh my God, what did I misread to get here?” She said, comparing it to a “jump scare”. “The intention is pretty clear if someone’s stripped down to their underwear and on the bed.” She said it suddenly felt like the room was spinning, like blood was draining from her hands and feet.
Daniels said that she tried to make a joke and leave, but Trump stood up between her and the door. She testified that Trump told her “I thought you were serious about what you wanted, if you want to get out of that trailer park.”
Daniels said she “blacked out” during her “brief” sexual encounter with Trump. “I was not drunk I was not drugged … I just don’t remember,” she told the jury. She said she “was staring up at the ceiling and didn’t know how I got there”. She testified that she remembered her hands were “shaking so hard that I was having a hard time getting dressed” afterwards, and that Trump told her: “Let’s get together again, honey bunch!”
After a lunch break, Trump’s team demanded a mistrial over what they said were prejudicial and irrelevant comments. “There’s no way to unring that bell, in our view,” defense lawyer Todd Blanche said. “Aside from pure embarrassment,” Blanche told Merchan, these details did nothing but “inflame the jury”. The judge rejected the request and said defense lawyers should have raised more objections during the testimony.
Daniels said that in 2011, a man approached her at a Las Vegas car park and threatened her against coming forward. Her former attorney, Michael Avenatti, publicized a sketch of the man, and then filed a defamation suit after Trump denied involvement. Daniels said she thought a defamation claim was “risky” and “not worth it”, but that Avenatti filed it without her permission. The case was thrown out, in Trump’s favor.
Under cross examination, Daniels acknowledged that she “hates” Trump. “I want him to be held accountable,” she told the jury. Daniels also admitted she has chosen not to pay about $560,000 in legal fees that she owes to Trump after she filed and lost a defamation suit against him.
The jury heard from another witness in the morning: Sally Franklin, an executive at Penguin Random House. The prosecution asked her to read excerpts from Trump’s books including Trump: How to Get Rich and Trump: Think Like a Billionaire.
Updated
Judge indefinitely postpones Trump's classified documents trial date
The US district judge Aileen Cannon has indefinitely postponed Donald Trump’s trial date in Florida in the case where the former president is charged with retaining national security documents.
From Politico’s Kyle Cheney:
BREAKING: Judge CANNON has indefinitely postponed Donald Trump's trial date in Florida.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 7, 2024
It may be months before we know the new schedule.https://t.co/SScVNc0KAD pic.twitter.com/xnmlCjK92X
Trump says today was a 'very revealing day'
Donald Trump, speaking to the media after court adjourned for the day, described today’s court proceedings as a “very big day”.
Trump, standing next to his attorney Todd Blanche, said:
So this was a very big day, a very revealing day as you see their case is totally falling apart. They have nothing on books and records and even something that should bear very little relationship to the case. It’s just a disaster for the DA, the Soros-backed disaster. This whole case is a disaster.
Court adjourned for the day
Stormy Daniels has left the stand for the day and walked out of the room. Trump attorney Susan Necheles’ cross of Daniels will resume on Thursday.
Trump has left the courtroom.
Trump attorney Susan Necheles is asking about the alleged 2011 threat to keep quiet about the former president, once again to insist that it didn’t actually happen.
So you decided in 2016, well, I’m going to sell my story, you weren’t afraid?
Stormy Daniels told Necheles that she was “very different” and more brave, in 2016 than in 2011.
Necheles pressed on with her suggestion that Daniels was trying to shake down Trump.
You were looking to extort money from President Trump, right?
“False”, Daniels said. “Well, that’s what you did, right?” “False!”
Updated
Donald Trump has returned to court following a brief break. His son, Eric, has sat back down in the front row, once again alongside Alina Habba.
Stormy Daniels has returned to the stand.
During the break, Trump was asked how today’s proceedings were going. “Very well”, he replied, per pool.
Updated
Trump attorney Susan Necheles is grilling Stormy Daniels on why she didn’t come forward with the sex claim for 10 years.
Daniels shot back that she told multiple people – including friends – and had effectively told the story during a radio show interview around 2007.
Necheles asked if she thought that Michael Cohen had sent a man to threaten Daniels in 2011; Daniels previously believed that Cohen was responsible for the threat.
Daniels earlier told the jury about being approached by a man in the parking lot of a shopping center in Las Vegas in June 2011 who she said “threatened me not to continue to tell my story”.
The prosecution asked: “But now you and Michael Cohen are buddies, right?” Daniels replied:
I wouldn’t say buddies.
But you’ve been on his podcast a couple of times? “For him to apologize.”
Trump attorney Susan Necheles is asking Stormy Daniels about whether she considered getting high-profile women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred to represent her in 2011.
You told Gloria Allred that you did not have sex with President Trump, didn’t you?
Daniels denied this. “I told her I did.”
Necheles’ line of questioning stems from Daniels’ book, Full Disclosure, where she describes speaking with Allred on the phone – but not telling her about sex with Trump. Daniels said:
I did not tell her all these sex details, I did not trust her.
“You’re making this up as you sit there, right?” Necheles pressed. “No.”
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Trump attorney Susan Necheles returns to money.
You’ve been making money by claiming to have had sex with Donald J Trump, for more than a decade?
“I’ve been making money telling my story [about] what happened,” replied an increasingly irked Daniels.
“It has made you a lot of money?” Daniels shot back:
It has also cost me a lot of money.
Daniels asked about tweet calling Trump an 'orange turd'
On cross, Trump attorney Susan Necheles is doggedly trying to convey that Stormy Daniels’ presence in court is a financially motivated personal vendetta.
Not only does Daniels hate Donald Trump, but she doesn’t want to pay him money owed to him.
Necheles also pointed to one of Daniels’ tweets, where she compares him to an orange excrement.
I don't owe him shit and I'll never give that orange turd a dime 😂
— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) November 10, 2022
Why did she make fun of his appearance, Necheles asked?
Because he made fun of me first.
So, Necheles asked, one of you started it, but both continued the feud?
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'I want him to be held accountable': Daniels says she 'hates' Trump
Then came Trump attorney Susan Necheles’ questions on Stormy Daniels’ view on Trump.
“Am I correct in that you hate President Trump?” Yes.
“And you want him to go to jail?”
I want him to be held accountable.
“Part of the reason you hate him is because he won a legal case against you, and you owe him today, over half a million dollars, right?” Necheles said.
“He didn’t win the case – he won attorneys fees.
“So you agree with me, he won the case and he was awarded over half a million dollars in legal fees?” Correct.
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“The prosecutors began their direct testimony today by asking you why you started acting in pornography, right?” Trump attorney Susan Necheles said.
“They asked me why? I don’t think they asked me why,” answered Stormy Daniels, who seemed irked.
Necheles asked about why she got into the industry, asking:
It’s that simple: “You want[ed] more money?
Daniels said:
Don’t we all want more money in our jobs?
Necheles grilled Daniels on whether money was her main motive with things.
Updated
Defense begins cross-examination of Daniels
Susan Necheles is conducting the cross-examination for Trump.
“Is it correct that you had mock cross-examination done?” Necheles asked. Daniels said she’d been asked questions similar to cross in difficult sessions, but maybe she’d misused the word “mock”.
Necheles pounced:
So when you said that before, you were not being truthful?
Updated
Stormy Daniels openly says she did not pay Donald Trump the money he’s owed in legal fees for the case that her then lawyer, Michael Avenatti, brought without her wanting him to do so; a court ordered that she pay Trump’s legal fees in that action.
So, why didn’t she pay? The prosecution asked. Daniels replied:
I don’t have the means to pay that kind of funds and because, I didn’t think it was fair.
Stormy Daniels said she hired Michael Avenatti as her lawyer to get her out of the nondisclosure agreement “so I could stand up for myself”.
Daniels said “no,” when asked if she wanted Avenatti to file a defamation case against Trump. In her view, the defamation claim was “risky” and “not worth it”.
“Is Michael Avenatti still your lawyer?” Daniels responded with an emphatic “No.” Why?
Because I fired him and he was later found guilty of stealing from her and his other clients.
Updated
Stormy Daniels told the jury she purposely signed a document denying the sexual encounter with a different signature as a “tip off” to Jimmy Kimmel.
She said the statement was handed to her by her lawyer, Keith Davidson, while she was getting ready for the show. She said:
I signed it in a way I had never signed Stormy Daniels before – as a tip off to Jimmy Kimmel.
She said the statement was false.
Daniels testifies her life became 'chaos' after Wall Street Journal hush-money story
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Stormy Daniels about the statement she signed denying the sexual encounter with Donald Trump.
Daniels said the denial statement was “not true” and that it was signed on the advice of her lawyer, Keith Davidson.
Asked if she knew Davidson would send the statement to Trump’s then fixer, Michael Cohen, Daniels said yes.
Daniels said her life turned into “chaos” after the Wall Street Journal ran the story on 12 January 2017. She said:
I was front and foremost everywhere.
Daniels said her family was “ostracized” from her daughter’s playgroup and her riding stable after the WSJ story came out.
Updated
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is now asking Daniels about her book, Full Disclosure.
Daniels said that she discussed some difficult things from her childhood in that book.
“Was it your work on that book that you were paid for?” “Yes,” Daniels said.
“Aside from making money, were there other reasons that you wrote the book?” Daniels said:
So my daughter would have an account from her mom’s own words what she went through …why I did the things I did.
Updated
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Stormy Daniels to describe what her life was like in 2017. Daniels said:
That was probably my best year ever.
She’d just produced an incredibly successful adult movie and won a major award – and her horse was ranked eighth in the US.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is fast-forwarding to 10 January 2017.
Hoffinger asks Stormy Daniels how she came to learn that the Wall Street Journal was going to write an article about her experience with Donald Trump and her $130,000 payment.
Daniels said she had an NDA:
I was respecting that, and I didn’t want to comment.
Hoffinger is now pointing to the text version of Daniels’ Trump denial. “Did you initially want to sign this?” No.
“Why did you not want to sign it?” the prosecution asks. Daniels replies:
Because it’s not true and I was told that saying anything at all was a violation of the NDA.
Updated
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is now asking Stormy Daniels about a settlement agreement from 28 October 2016.
Were the terms in this agreement …essentially the same terms as the agreement you signed on October 10?
Daniels sounds a little worn out as she answers Hoffinger’s questions about her signing of various settlement agreements.
Hoffinger is asking about the Wall Street Journal article on tabloid conglomerate American Media Inc’s purchase of Karen McDougal’s story about an affair with Trump – and refusing to publish it.
Updated
Stormy Daniels back on the stand
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is resuming her direct examination of Stormy Daniels.
When we left off, we were discussing some of the delays in payment in dealing with Michael Cohen and Mr Trump.
Daniels is reading an email from Keith Davidson to Michael Cohen in October 2016. “No payment was received,” wrote Davidson, who was Daniels’ lawyer handling the $130,000 payout.
Hoffinger asked whether Daniels spoke with a news outlet. She said yes, Slate, but the publication was not going to pay her.
Updated
Judge Juan Merchan noted that prosecutor Susan Hoffinger stepped out for a minute to provide additional instruction to Stormy Daniels before she returned to the stand, namely that she shouldn’t provide additional narrative.
Meanwhile, Eric Trump and Trump lawyer Alina Habba are seated in the front row of the gallery, behind him. They can be seen chatting here and there. She is smiling.
Daniels re-entered the courtroom. She is back at the witness stand, sipping water. She’s adjusted her hair. Her face has a deflated look about it.
The judge, Juan Merchan, says he doesn’t think we’re at the point where mistrial is warranted, even as he concedes “there were some things that should have been left unsaid” during Stormy Daniels’ freewheeling testimony.
But Merchan says he was also surprised there were not more objections from the defense and that, at one point, he stepped in of his own accord to restrict Daniels’ testimony.
Updated
Judge denies defense motion for a mistrial
Judge Juan Merchan is responding to Blanche’s push for mistrial.
“I agree that there are probably some things that would have been [left] better unsaid,” Merchan said.
In fairness to the people, I think your witness was a little difficult to control ... having said that I do think there were guardrails in place, I do think the court had instructed the prosecution there were certain details they didn’t need to get into.
Merchan says:
I’m going to deny the motion for a mistrial at this time.
Updated
The prosecution, of course, is arguing against a mistrial.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger says that Stormy Daniels’ account is “highly probative of defendant’s intent”.
Hoffinger said some details in Daniels’ account, such as Trump not using a condom, had been out in the public for some time.
“We were extremely mindful about not eliciting too much testimony about the act,” Hoffinger said.
There were details that were left out based on the court’s instructions at the bench ... but your honor, they’re stating that this is an entirely new story is not accurate. And I’m sure that when they cross examine Ms Daniels, some of this will come out.
Updated
Trump attorney Todd Blanche argues that the issue at hand is that Stormy Daniels has testified today about consent and danger, and “that’s not the point of this case, that’s not the point of this testimony”.
Blanche says it’s “extraordinarily prejudicial” and that “this is the kind of testimony that makes it impossible to come back from”.
He adds that Trump is “someone who’s going to going out to campaign this afternoon” and that Daniels’ use of the word “consent” during her testimony is unfair to him in the context of his candidacy, too.
How can we come back from this in a way that’s fair to President Trump and in a way that makes sure this process stays exactly where it should be?
Updated
The Trump team moves for a mistrial after testimony by Stormy Daniels, arguing her testimony – about the power dynamic, whether it was consensual, Trump allegedly not using a condom after testifying she worked with a specific adult film company because they mandated condom use – was extraordinarily prejudicial.
Trump lawyers Todd Blanche tells the judge:
We believe, regrettably, there should be a mistrial and to the extent there’s another trial, that this witness be excluded or her testimony be incredibly limited.
Trump attorney moves for mistrial based on Daniels' testimony
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche is pointing to Stormy Daniels using the phrase “blacked out,” and saying that Donald Trump didn’t wear a condom.
“The fact that there’s a bodyguard outside the room, the power dynamic,” Blanche said, alluding to some things in Daniels’ testimony.
“Aside from pure embarrassment,” Blanche said, these details do nothing but “inflame the jury”.
“She testified that there were communications with Donald Trump afterward and that she thought something bad would happen and …not being safe,” Blanche said.
It’s still extraordinarily prejudicial to insert safety concerns into a trial about trial records ….for years, including up to 2016, which is when she was peddling this story. She talked about a consensual encounter with President Trump, that she was trying to sell – and that’s not the story that we heard today. We heard a completely different story.
Updated
Court has resumed and Trump lawyer Todd Blanche is saying that Stormy Daniels’ testimony was unfair to Trump.
“We move for a mistrial based on the testimony this morning,” Blanche said.
There’s no way to unring that bell, in our view.
Stormy Daniels and Trump’s bodyguard coordinated and she was directed to Donald Trump’s hotel across the city, and told to take a specific elevator to the penthouse.
“He was wearing silk or satin pyjamas that I immediately made fun of him for, and said does Mr Heffner know you stole his pyjamas?” Daniels said, referring to the late pornographer and Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner.
I told him to go change and he obliged.
Since it was still early, they decided to chat for a while before getting dinner. Trump repeatedly grilled Daniels on her time in the adult industry, including:
What about testing? Do you worry about STDs?
He asked whether she had been tested. “Yes, of course, and I volunteered it as well.” Daniels recalled:
He asked me, oh well, have you ever had a bad test, I said nope I can show you my entire record.
She said there was also a very brief discussion of Melania, Trump’s wife, where he said they slept in separate beds.
Daniels said she had to use the restroom at some point, as she’d had several bottles of water. Trump had come into the bedroom area of the suite, and was on the bed in his boxers and a T-shirt.
“At first I was just startled, like a jump scare,” Daniels said.
I just thought: oh my god, what did I misread to get here? The intention is pretty clear if someone’s stripped down to their underwear and on the bed.
She tried to make a joke and leave, but he stood up between her and the door. “At some point, did you wind up on the bed having sex with him?” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked. “Yes.”
Updated
The court is due to return from a lunch break in the next few minutes.
Donald Trump’s criminal trial entered a new stage on Tuesday morning with testimony from Stormy Daniels, an adult film star at the center of his hush-money scandal, who told jurors that they had a sexual liaison in 2006 that left her nervous and ashamed.
“My hands were shaking so hard that I was having a hard time getting dressed,” said Daniels, who told jurors that she had gone to Trump’s Lake Tahoe hotel room under the belief that they would be getting dinner at a restaurant later.
The two had met earlier that day at a celebrity golf match across town; they didn’t discuss much, but Daniels’ boss told Trump that she was also a director. Trump, she recalled, said she must be pretty smart if she directed films. They ran into each other again at a room where event sponsors set up tables with free merchandise.
He did remember us from the golf course – he remembered me specifically, that I was the smart one.
At one point, one of Trump’s bodyguards came over and told Daniels that he wanted her to join him for dinner. She said no.
Daniels said she didn’t consider the invitation again until later, when there was a scheduled company dinner she didn’t want to attend. Daniels’ colleague told her that she should take Trump up on his invitation. Daniels recalled":
It’ll make a great story, he’s a business guy, what would possibly go wrong, that was his words to me.
No cameras are allowed inside the courtroom during Donald Trump’s hush-money trial, but these courtroom sketches offer a glimpse into today’s proceedings.
Updated
The court is breaking for lunch and will resume at 2pm ET.
As Donald Trump left the courtroom just now, he looked around the gallery. He did not seem more dour than normal.
Before the break, the prosecution asked Stormy Daniels about the delay of the $130,000 payment. “Did you get paid the 130,000 on 14 October 2016, as was disclosed in that email?”
Daniels said: “No, it was late.”
“What did you understand for the reason the delay was happening?” Daniels replied:
I didn’t know it was late, he just kept making excuses.
Who? She said Michael Cohen to her lawyer, Keith Davidson.
Updated
Daniels testifies she 'didn't care' about $130,000 hush-money amount
Prosecutors elicit more important testimony from Stormy Daniels undercutting another of Donald Trump’s defense claims that he was being extorted by her and her lawyer, Keith Davidson.
Daniels says she didn’t negotiate for more money than $130,000 because she “didn’t care” about the money.
Her financial situation was “the best it had ever been” and all she wanted was the story to remain secret – because she had not told her boyfriend – and just wanted all of it to be over.
Updated
Stormy Daniels said she met Donald Trump again in the summer of 2007 in Los Angeles.
Trump “kept trying to make sexual advances, putting his hand on my leg, scooting closer,” she said, NBC reported. Daniels added: “I told him I was on my period”.”
She said she stopped taking Trump’s calls after he told her that he couldn’t get her on The Apprentice.
Updated
Daniels describes meeting with Trump at Trump Tower
Stormy Daniels said that she met with Donald Trump again at the Trump Tower in 2007 after he suggested she visit.
Daniels testified that she went up to his office to meet him and that she also met with his assistant, Rhona Graff, in the lobby area.
She said that during their meeting, Daniels recalled Trump telling her that he was “still working on the Apprentice thing”. She said Trump also offered her tickets to pageants, NBC reported.
Asked if he seemed concerned about others seeing her there, she said:
Oh no, he introduced me to everybody. He just seemed busy.
Stormy Daniels testified that she later attended the launch of Trump Vodka in January 2007 and that she had agreed to meet Donald Trump because the chance to be on The Apprentice was still up in the air.
Daniels said she was introduced by Trump to Karen McDougal at the party. McDougal, a former Playboy model, has said she had an extramarital affair with Trump.
Updated
Stormy Daniels testified that she saw Donald Trump the day after their sexual encounter. She said his bodyguard, Keith Schiller, had asked if she would meet him again and that she had agreed because it was in public.
Daniels said she met Trump at a hotel nightclub where he was seated at a table with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who Trump called “Big Ben”.
She said she spoke with Trump often in the weeks after they met, “sometimes two to three times a week”, and that she would always put him on speaker phone and that “dozens of people” heard her on the phone with him.
Asked why she continued to speak to Trump, she told the jury that her publicist “thought it was a good idea” to continue the conversations about the TV show.
Prosecutors are getting some important testimony from Stormy Daniels undercutting one of Donald Trump’s defense claims – and Jeffrey McConney’s testimony – that he didn’t want the story about their affair to come out, not because of the 2016 election, but because he didn’t want to embarrass his wife Melania.
Asked if he was concerned in July 2006 or summer 2007 about anyone finding out, or if he told her to keep it confidential? “Absolutely not.”
Judge warns prosecutors to keep Daniels' questioning relevant to the case
The judge, Juan Merchan, is clearly unhappy with the Stormy Daniels testimony.
He warned prosecutors before the trial resumed after the morning break that much of her testimony had so far been irrelevant to the case – and at times it has felt like Daniels gossiping for sport, except for when the mood turned serious when she talked about how she came to have sex with Donald Trump.
Still, Judge Merchan on multiple occasions has now admonished Daniels for talking at length about the encounter, often in an unserious manner and at times making faces.
“Just listen to the question and answer the question,” Merchan has instructed her, after sustaining objection after objection from the defense.
Updated
Stormy Daniels testified that after she used the restroom attached to the bedroom, Trump had appeared on the bed in boxers and a T-shirt.
Daniels said she tried to sidestep around him, but Trump confronted her standing up in the doorway.
Although not in a threatening manner, Daniels said, Trump told her: “I thought you were serious about what you wanted” when she tried to leave.
Daniels testified that the:
Next thing I know, I was on opposite side of bed from where we had been standing, my clothes and shoes were off, my bra was still on … and we were missionary position...
Her testimony was cut off when Trump’s lawyer, Susan Necheles, objected, which Merchan sustained.
Updated
Stormy Daniels says Trump did not ask her to keep their sexual encounter a secret
The prosecution asks Stormy Daniels if Donald Trump asked her to keep their encounter confidential. Daniels says no.
Did he express any concern at that point with his wife finding out? Daniels says no.
Updated
Daniels says Trump told her 'let’s get together again, honeybunch' after sexual encounter
The prosecution asks Stormy Daniels if she remembers getting dressed after having sex with Donald Trump.
Daniels says:
Sitting on the edge of the bed, noticing that it was absolutely completely dark outside now, it was really hard to get my shoes on because my hands were shaking so hard … My hands were shaking so hard that I was having a hard time getting dressed.
She is asked what Trump said to her. She says Trump said:
Let’s get together again, honeybunch!
The prosecution asks: “Did you say no at anytime?” “No.” “Why not?” Daniels says:
Because I didn’t say anything at all.
What did Trump say when she was leaving?
He said that we have to get together again soon, went to kiss me goodbye, I just left as fast as I could. That was it.
Updated
'I blacked out': Daniels describes 'brief' sexual encounter with Trump
Stormy Daniels is asked what happened after she told Donald Trump that she wanted to leave.
I just think I blacked out – I was not drunk I was not drugged … I just don’t remember.
She says at some point, she ended up on the bed having sex with Trump.
The next thing I know is I was on the bed, somehow on the opposite side of the bed from where we had been standing, I had my clothes and my shoes off ... we were in missionary position.
She said she “was staring up at the ceiling and didn’t know how I got there”.
“Was he wearing a condom?” the prosecution asked. Daniels said: “No.”
“Was that concerning to you?” Daniels replied: “Yes.”
Did you say anything about it? Daniels said: “I didn’t say anything at all.”
And was it brief? “Yes.”
Updated
Stormy Daniels said Donald Trump “was just on the bed” in his boxer shorts and T-shirt when she exited the bathroom.
She said:
I laughed, nervously, tried to make a joke out of it I guess and step and leave …I just thought to myself, great, I’ve put myself in this bad situation.
Trump “stood up between me in the door – not in a threatening manner,” she said. She told him that “I gotta go.”
He said I thought we were getting somewhere ... I thought you were serious about what you wanted, if you want to get out of that trailer park, I was offended because I never lived in a trailer park.
Updated
'Like a jump scare': Daniels testifies she was 'startled' to see Trump in boxer shorts in bed
Stormy Daniels is describing what happened after she went into the bathroom of Donald Trump’s penthouse suite, where she saw a “leather-looking toiletry bag” containing products such as Old Spice.
She says that when she came out of the bathroom, she saw Trump wearing boxer shorts and a T-shirt. She wasn’t expecting him to be there minus a lot of clothing, she said. She said:
At first I was just startled, like a jump scare ... and that’s when I had that moment where I felt like the room spun in slow motion and I felt the blood basically leave my hands and my feet, almost like if you stand up too fast … I just thought, oh my god, what did I misread to get here? The intention is pretty clear if someone’s stripped down to their underwear and on the bed.
Updated
The court is back in session after a short break.
Stormy Daniels is back on the witness stand.
Daniels testifies Trump told her she reminded him of his daughter Ivanka
Stormy Daniels later said Donald Trump told her she reminded her of his daughter Ivanka, when he was trying to convince her that appearing on The Apprentice would be good for her career:
You remind me of my daughter, she is smart and blonde and beautiful and people underestimate her as well.
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Daniels testifies Trump said he and Melania 'don't sleep in the same room'
Stormy Daniels has been testifying at a rapid pace about how she first met Donald Trump in July 2006 at a golf tournament, after which Trump invited her up to his room for dinner.
Daniels recounted in incredible detail the foyer to his hotel suite, how Trump initially came out in silk-satin pyjamas that she told him to change out of, which he did, and how they made small talk.
At one point, Daniels said she talked with Trump about his wife, Melania, as they flicked through photos. She told him Melania was beautiful, but recalled Trump said not to worry because “we don’t even sleep in the same room”.
Updated
Stormy Daniels testified that most people want to know the salacious details of her work, but that Donald Trump was interested in the business aspects.
She said he asked questions including if she had health insurance, or about STD testing.
The court is taking a short break.
Before the break, Stormy Daniels was asked what her expectations were about going to Donald Trump’s hotel room after meeting him at the celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe. Daniels testified that she had no expectations other than going for dinner with someone else.
Asked to describe their meeting in the penthouse suite of the hotel, Daniels said Trump was wearing silk or satin pyjamas and that she made fun of him for them, asking “Does Mr Hefner know you stole his pyjamas?”
She said she asked him to go and change, which he did. When he returned in a suit, they sat at a dining table and began talking. She said they spoke about how she grew up, and he asked whether she had a boyfriend.
Daniels said Trump asked her how she got involved in the adult entertainment business, and that he was very interested in how she had segued from being a porn star to writing and directing.
Updated
Daniels testifies about meeting Trump at celebrity golf tournament
Stormy Daniels said that her boss from Wicked introduced Donald Trump to all of his contract workers and when he got to her, revealed that she was also a director. Trump, she recalled, said she must be pretty smart if she directed too.
Daniel was asked whether they ran into each other again at the tourament. She said that they did, in one of the gift rooms.
Like I mentioned, every party came through, there’s so many photos of the girls with all the celebrities that came through that day … He did remember us from the golf course – he remembered me specifically, that I was the smart one.
“We did have our DVDs, our adult films there, he did ask for one I directed.” Daniels said it was called Three Wishes. They spoke very briefly.
At one point, one of Trump’s bodyguards came over and said “Mr Trump was interested in having me join him for dinner.” Hoffinger asked Daniels: What was your answer? “No.”
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Daniels identifies Trump in courtroom
Stormy Daniels, asked by prosecutors to pick out Donald Trump in the courtroom during her direct examination, identifies him at the defense table.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked:
Do you see Mr Trump in the courtroom today?
“Uh, navy blue jacket,” Daniels said, pointing to the defense table.
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“I’d like to now direct your attention to July 2006,” says Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor.
Stormy Daniels says she was in Lake Tahoe with Wicked Entertainment, an adult company.
“What were you and others from Wicked Entertainment doing in Lake Tahoe in July in 2006?” She said that Wicked was there to promote the company.
The players would come around, you’d stay at your hole that had your company’s logo, give them water or towels...
Did you meet Donald Trump on the golf course at that celebrity golf tournament?” Daniels said: “Yes, I did.”
She later said “it was a very brief encounter on the course.” What was discussed? “It wasn’t very much …”
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As Stormy Daniels responds to Susan Hoffinger’s questions, she is looking both toward the prosecutor and addressing jurors directly.
At one point, she took a sip of water from a plastic cup.
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Daniels testifies about her personal biography as prosecutors paint sympathetic portrait
Susan Hoffinger, in asking Stormy Daniels about her background, is making her a sympathetic character.
The prosecutor knows that Donald Trump’s team is going to try chipping away at Daniels’ credibility, so she is showing that the adult actress is a dynamic, kind, intelligent woman.
Daniels testified that she had received a full scholarship for veterinary medicine but didn’t attend, because of the cost. She got into the adult industry in high school, when Daniels met someone at a horse stable where she worked, who turned out to be an exotic dancer.
I started dancing on the weekends, which was actually kind of cool because I didn’t have to miss any classes, and I could make more in two nights than I did shoveling manure eight hours a day.
Hoffinger also prompted Daniels to discuss how she left home early, at age 17. “My mother was very neglectful, she would disappear for days at the time,” Daniels recalled.
I wish I could say she was some kind of addict, because that would be some sort of excuse...
Hoffigner asked Daniels whether she’d supported herself since leaving home as a teen. “Yes,” Daniels said.
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Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is questioning Stormy Daniels, who has been speaking very quickly, about her background.
While Daniels, wearing black and a matching pair of glasses, walked into the courtroom with confidence, the fast progression of her words does indicate nervousness.
Donald Trump is leaning back in his chair with a passive look on his face as Stormy Daniels takes the stand in his criminal trial.
In the rows behind Trump, his attorney Alina Habba is sitting with her arms crossed, Eric Trump is looking at the wall, and Trump aide Boris Epshteyn is on his phone.
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Stormy Daniels has taken the witness stand. She said that she is testifying pursuant to a subpoeana.
Stormy Daniels called to the stand
The prosecution calls its next witness: Stormy Daniels.
Daniels, an adult film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she met Donald Trump in 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament. Daniels was 27 at the time and Trump was 60 and Daniels has always said the sex was consensual.
Just before the 2016 election, Daniels said she was approached by Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer at the time, and offered $130,000 not to disclose the alleged affair. She accepted the money. “The story was coming out again. I was concerned for my family and their safety,” Daniels told 60 Minutes in 2018.
After the Wall Street Journal broke the story of the payment, Daniels sued Trump to release her from the non-disclosure agreement. She said it was void because it had not been signed by Trump.
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Prosecutors have Sally Franklin read another excerpt from the book Trump: Think Like a Billionaire that strikes exactly at Trump’s awareness of his finances:
There’s nothing worse than a computer signing checks... when you sign a check yourself, you’re seeing what’s really going on.
Recall that Donald Trump personally signed the $35,000 hush-money reimbursement checks to Michael Cohen, in part because the money was being drawn from his personal account, according to testimony from the ex-Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney yesterday.
Prosecutors are suggesting those checks showed Trump had direct knowledge of the illicit repayment scheme, even as Trump’s lawyers say he just automatically signed off without understanding precise details.
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Sally Franklin has finished testifying and left the witness stand.
Judge Juan Merchan is chatting with both sides at the bench right now.
On re-direct, Sally Franklin was asked to read Donald Trump’s acknowledgments page from How to Get Rich, to show that Trump’s words reflected his real-life speech and behavior, and were not a ghostwriter’s artful turn of phrase.
“She’s done a remarkable job helping me put my experiences on paper,” Trump said, in reference to secondary author Meredith McIver.
By saying “helping me put my experiences on paper,” Trump is attributing things he described doing in his book to himself.
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Prosecutors are having Sally Franklin, a Penguin Random House executive, read through a series of passages from some of Trump’s books bragging about his cheapness and how he watched his outflows closely.
The thrust here is that Trump, in his own words, paid close attention to his finances – casting doubt on the Trump defense claim that he merely signed the checks to reimburse Michael Cohen for paying the hush money without knowing what it was for.
Right now, on direct-examination, the prosecution is asking Sally Franklin, of Random House, about books by Donald Trump that the company has published. Among them is How to Get Rich.
Franklin was asked to read excerpts from Trump’s texts. “For many years, I’ve said that if someone screws you, screw them back,” one passage read by Franklin said.
Like it says in the Bible, an eye for an eye.
She was also asked about a portion of text that read, “All the women on the Apprentice flirted with me” and claimed “a sexual dynamic is always present between two people unless [one] is asexual”.
One passage also undermines any defense claim that Trump didn’t pay attention to payments as he wrote in his own words:
I always sign my checks, so I know where my money is going … I always read my bills, so I know I’m not overcharged.
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Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold asks Sally Franklin to read a line from Donald Trump’s book, Trump: How to Get Rich, in which Trump wrote that:
I am the chairman and president of the Trump Organization. I like saying that because it means a great deal to me.
Another excerpt with the chapter title “Pay attention to the details” reads:
If you don’t know every aspect of what you’re doing, down to the paperclips, you’re setting yourself up for some unwelcome surprises.
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Sally Franklin, the first witness called to the stand today, is testifying as a records custodian.
Her testimony allows prosecutors to enter into evidence copies of some of Donald Trump’s previous books, including Trump: How to Get Rich.
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First witness called
The prosecution has called its first witness of the day: Sally Franklin, the senior vice-president and executive managing editor for Penguin Random House publishing group.
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Judge allows prosecutors to call Stormy Daniels as witness
Juan Merchan allows – over Donald Trump’s objections – the Manhattan district attorney’s office to call Stormy Daniels as the second witness today.
Trump, wearing a lemon-yellow tie today, appears unimpressed.
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Prosecutors said that they don’t plan on going into any salacious details about the sexual act.
“The details of the encounter are important,” Susan Hoffinger argued, saying they provided “reasons for why she did what she did” with signing the NDA.
The details will be how she ended up having a sexual encounter with him.
”It’s not going to involve any descriptions of genitalia or anything of that nature,” Hoffinger said later.
Merchan said he didn’t have an issue so long as there wouldn’t be details about the alleged sex act. Hoffinger interjected:
Your honor, there will be some details very briefly, very briefly.
Merchan agreed that some discussion of the sexual encounter was admissible, citing that Daniels has “got credibility issues,” which necessitated including some information.
Donald Trump appeared to delete a Truth Social post complaining that his legal team did not have enough time to prepare for the next witness in the hush money criminal trial.
The statement posted at 7.30am this morning said:
I have just recently been told who the witness is today. This is unprecedented, no time for lawyers to prepare.
He did not name the identify the witness, but Trump attorney Susan Necheles has just said that Stormy Daniels is expected to take the stand today.
The former president went on to attack the judge, Juan Merchan, for running the trial in a “biased and partisan way” and for being “crooked” and “highly conflicted”.
Trump deleted the Truth Social post shortly after posting it, likely because it violates a court-imposed gag order that prevents him from intimidating people closely connected to the case, including witnesses. Merchan has made it clear that he would jail Trump if the violations continued.
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Trump attorney asks judge to prohibit Stormy Daniels from testifying about alleged 'sexual act'
Trump attorney Susan Necheles reveals that Stormy Daniels is expected to be the prosecution’s second witness for the day.
She’s fighting to keep details about the alleged sex act between Daniels and Donald Trump under wraps.
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Donald Trump walked into the courtroom, sporting a deep blue suit and buttercup yellow tie.
The testimony from Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization’s former comptroller and Deborah Tarasoff, the company’s accounts payable supervisor, on Monday sought to place Donald Trump at the center of his company and personal finances – to undermine any defense argument that he was not at the helm of bill-paying.
“Who has the authority to approve invoices?” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked McConney.
“President Trump, before he became president,” McConney said. After Trump became president, those who could sign off on invoices included the former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, as well as some of Trump’s adult children.
McConney was also asked about a discussion he had with Weisselberg on repaying Michael Cohen. Weisselberg, an unwavering Trump loyalist, was imprisoned after being convicted of perjury for lying in Trump’s civil fraud case.
“We have to reimburse Michael,” McConney remembered Weisselberg saying during an early 2017 meeting. During that meeting, they determined that Cohen was owed $420,000 for legal expenses and taxes; the sum included a bonus. “He tossed the pad toward me, I started taking notes on what Allen said.”
Colangelo teased out that Trump – whom prosecutors have cast as incredibly cheap – heaped more money on Cohen than was normal for him to do. “Do these notes show that Mr Cohen was receiving $360,000 back on a $180,000 expense?” Colangelo said. “Yes,” McConney replied.
“Are you aware of another incident where an expense was doubled because of taxes?” Colangelo continued. McConney said no.
Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse.
Court is scheduled to get under way at 9.30am ET.
Stormy Daniels ‘likely’ called as witness today, her lawyer tells AP
It is “likely” that Stormy Daniels, an adult film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, will be called to testify today, her lawyer told the Associated Press.
The $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels is at the center of this trial.
Trump said earlier Tuesday that he was “recently told” who the witness would be on Tuesday and complained he should’ve been given more notice, the Associated Press reports.
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Three key takeaways from Monday
Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York entered a new phase on Monday, as prosecutors moved onto the alleged falsification of business records to cover up hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, after previously calling witnesses who described a conspiracy to kill the story.
Three major takeaways of the day:
Prosecutors argue Cohen’s ‘expenses’ were not processed as expenses
Trump argues ‘legal expense’ was a dropdown label, not a falsification
Trump warned of jail for further gag-order violations
For more on these points, you can read the full story below:
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Here are some of the images from the newswires from court on Monday:
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Merchan’s latest gag order ruling came just minutes after Trump walked into the courtroom in Manhattan. And the judge appeared to be getting increasingly exasperated with Trump’s repeated violations:
“Mr Trump, as you know the prosecution has filed three separate motions to find you in criminal contempt,” Merchan said. “It appears that the $1,000 fines are not a deterrent.”
Merchan continued: “The last thing I want to do is put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well ... but at the end of the day, I have a job to do and part of that job is to protect the dignity of the judicial system.”
He also said that Trump’s actions “constitute a direct attack on the rule of law. I cannot allow that to continue”.
“So as much as I do not want to impose a jail sanction,” Merchan added sternly, “I want you to understand that I will, if necessary and appropriate.”
Case to resume after judge fines Trump and threatens jail time for gag order violations
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Donald Trump’s criminal trial over his hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The trial reopened yesterday after a pause over the weekend. It was another lively day with a stern warning from the judge, Juan Merchan, that additional violations of a gag order barring Trump from inflammatory out-of-court comments about witnesses, jurors and others closely connected to the case could result in jail time.
The $1,000 fine imposed on Monday marks the second time since the trial began last month that Trump has been sanctioned for violating the gag order. He was fined $9,000 last week, $1,000 for each of nine violations.
“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Therefore going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said before jurors were brought into the courtroom.
The first witness called this week was Jeffrey McConney, former Trump Organization comptroller and senior vice-president.
Through McConney’s testimony, the prosecution sought to show that Trump had intimate knowledge of his personal and companies’ finances – and that repayments to Michael Cohen were out-of-the-ordinary for his boss.
Next up was Deborah Tarasoff, who works for The Trump Organization as an accounts payable supervisor. Tarasoff’s time on the stand seemed to establish just how intertwined Trump was with his underlings. Cohen, she said, worked next to her and then elsewhere on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, the nerve center of his company.
Here’s a quick recap of their testimonies yesterday:
Deborah Tarasoff, a former accountant at the Trump Organization, testified that Trump personally signed reimbursement checks to his “fixer” Michael Cohen, who made the payment to adult movie star Stormy Daniels that is at the heart of this case. Showing that Trump signed them chips away at the defense claim that Trump was detached from the transactions.
Tarasoff was led through a succession of checks to Cohen that she cut, then sent to Trump for signing, some while the former president was in the White House. The purpose appeared to be giving the jury a clear understanding of the regular practices in place at the company, and how the hush-money payment to Daniels veered outside normal procedures to point of illegality.
Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization’s retired controller and senior vice-president, was pressed by the prosecution on the company’s accounting and reporting procedures, focusing on the argument that Trump was in full control of his personal and company finances, and had authorized and was aware of the purpose of the payment to Daniels.
Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove got McConney to concede he had never spoken with Trump about repayments to Cohen, and had never been directed to register the payments in a certain way, or improperly.
Bove suggested there was no falsification, in part because of the narrow way Trump Organization payments had to be recorded, using the drop-down menu of an “antiquated” software recording system.
Additionally, McConney conceded that Cohen was Trump’s personal lawyer, and said he always recorded payments to lawyers as “legal expenses” in the ledger during his 36-plus years with the company.
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Trump complains about length of trial: 'I thought they would be finished today'
Donald Trump’s criminal trial over hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels continues on Tuesday – and it could take at least another two weeks for prosecutors to finish presenting their case.
Trump complained about this as he was leaving. Repeating previous false claims, he insisted the trial was merely a ruse to keep the Republican party’s presumptive presidential nominee “off the campaign trail”.
“I thought they would be finished today,” Trump said. “The judge is so happy about two or three more weeks because they all want to keep me off the campaign trail. That’s all this is about, election interference”.
Trump will have to watch what he says after Monday earned him another $1,000 fine for violating a gag order that bars him from attacking witnesses, jurors and other key people involved in the trial.
It was the 10th time he was held criminal contempt and the judge, Juan Merchan, warned him yet again he could face jail for continued violations.
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