Donald Trump trial live updates: Stormy Daniels takes the stand

Daniels told the court how she ended up doing an interview with In Touch magazine about Trump, but it never ran.

She told the court she was supposed to be paid $15,000 for the article in 2011 that was never published.

Here is the exchange between Daniels’ publicist Gina Rodriguez and National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard about InTouch.

From Rob Crilly, Senior Political Reporter inside court:

Trump’s view of Stormy Daniels in the courtroom is largely obscured by the judge’s dais.

When Daniels was asked to identify him in the courtroom, she had to lean forward and twist to her right in order to see him.

For his part, Trump looks to be watching her testimony on the video monitor in front of him, in what is a very ‘Trumpy’ way to observe your own trial.

From Rob Crilly, Senior Political Reporter inside court:

Stormy Daniels has said multiple times that Trump never asked her to keep their encounter or subsequent meetings secret.

‘Absolutely not,’ she said when asked by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger.

This is part of the case prosecutors are making, that Trump only wanted her silence when he was under fire in the final stages of the 2016 election.

His defense is that he wasn’t worried about the election, but wanted to protect his family from the allegations of an affair.

Stormy Daniels is testifying about seeing Donald Trump in Los Angeles when he invited her to his bungalow.

Daniels says that Trump ‘kept trying to make sexual advances.’

Daniels says ‘I told him I was on my period.’

She says it lasted about two hours.

She says at no time did Trump tell her to keep it confidential.

Trump later called to say he had been ‘overruled by some high up’s wife’ that she couldn’t come on The Apprentice.

Stormy Daniels testifies about visiting Donald Trump at Trump Tower.

It happened in March 2007.

Daniels testifies it was a ‘very brief’ meeting with Trump.

She was dancing at a club and wanted to get him to come to the club, but he didn’t and asked her to his office.

Stormy Daniels is talking us through the moment she came out of hotel suite’s bathroom to find Trump is just his boxer shorts and T-shirt on the bed, ‘like this,’ she says, pulling up her left leg and stretching her right arm behind her in a seductive pose.

She is deploying all her acting skills.

Next she is asked ‘very briefly’ to describe having sex with Trump.

She describes being on the bed without most of her clothes and her shoes, in the ‘missionary position’ she says – immediately raising an objection from the defense.

There has been a legal back and forth about how much detail can be included, with the prosecution told to limit discussion of the intercourse.

‘Was he wearing a condom?’ asked prosecutor Susan Hoffinger.

She recalls it being brief.

Daniels remembers getting dressed and that it was ‘absolutely dark outside.’

She testifies that her hands were shaking so hard she was having a hard time with the buckles on her shoes.

Danies recalls Trump suggesting they get together again and calling her ‘honey bunch.’

She says she just wanted to leave.

The prosecutor asks and Daniels says she did not say no at any time.

‘I didn’t say anything at all,’ Daniels says.

She remembers taking a cab back.

‘I felt ashamed that I didn’t stop it, that I didn’t say no,’ Daniels says.

Stormy Daniels recalls having to use the bathroom. She remembers washing her hands and touching up her lipstick and looking in a leather toiletry bag, ‘I did look, I’m not proud of it,’ Daniels says.

Daniels remembers Old Spice and Pert Plus, which she thought was amusing. She also recalls gold tweezers.

She remembers coming out of the bathroom, and Trump being on the bed in boxer shorts and a t-shirt. She says she was startled at first.

She felt the room ‘spun’ in that moment.

‘Oh my god, what did I misread to get here?’ Daniels remembers thinking.

She recalls trying to step around and leave and thinking she put herself in a bad situation.

Daniels remembers Trump standing up between her and the door, but she insists it was ‘not in a threatening manner.’

She remembers Trump saying ‘I thought we were getting somewhere.’

‘”If you wanted to get out of the trailer park,” Daniels remembers Trump stating.

‘I was offended,’ she says.

Daniels says ‘I think I blacked out.’

She says she just does not remember, but she was not drunk or on drugs.

Judge Merchan admonishes the prosecutor and says that the level of detail Stormy Daniels has been going into is unnecessary.

He says when she returns, they should move it along more quickly.

Court is on a short morning recess.

Before the break, porn star Stormy Daniels was giving a detailed account of her dinner with Donald Trump at his hotel in 2006.

From Rob Crilly, Senior Political Reporter inside court:

The jury is getting a show today. Stormy Daniels is a very expressive witness, using her hands and face – all nose wrinkles, and pouts, and smiles – to tell her story.

We have heard about ‘condom mandatory’ porn shoots, how frequently she is tested for STD (once a month in 2006, twice a month now), her ‘blond hair and big boobs, as well as the first meeting with Trump, when she spanked him with a rolled up magazine.

The 12 jurors and the alternates are listening intently, just as poker-faced as they were yesterday when they heard a dry discussion of invoices, checks and ledgers.

Stormy Daniels recalls during their conversation at dinner that Melania Trump was brought up.

‘Yeah very brief,’ Stormy Daniels remembers. She remembers they were looking at pictures and she questioned about his wife?

Daniels remembers Trump saying ‘oh don’t worry about that.’

Trump told her they don’t sleep in the same room, Daniels says.

Stormy Daniels ended up changing her mind after speaking with her publicist about having dinner with Donald Trump.

‘What could possibly go wrong?’ Daniels recalls him saying. The court laughed at that.

Daniels testified that she was not staying at the same hotel as Trump, so she had to travel to his hotel.

Daniels recalled receiving instructions from Trump’s bodyguard Keith.

She remembers calling Trump’s name when she arrived at his hotel suite.

Daniels says Trump was wearing silk pajamas.

‘Does Mr. Hefner know you stole his pajamas?’ Daniels recalled joking.

She claims she told Trump to go change. He came back dressed.

Stormy Daniels recalls Donald Trump’s bodyguard ‘Keith’ telling her Trump wanted to meet with her for dinner.

‘F no,’ Daniels recalls as her initial response.

Daniels did exchange contact info with Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller.

The court is shown the contact information saved in her phone as ‘Keith Trump.’

She says she did not know Keith’s last name at the time.

From Rob Crilly, Senior Political Reporter inside court:

Stormy Daniels is giving a polished performance.

She has told her life story many times over, about the absent mother, poor neighborhood, erotic dancing, and the transition into adult movies.

She has never told it in a courtroom, surrounded by lawyers and in front of a jury.

She is talking very fast, giggling sometimes at the absurdity of it all, occasionally throwing up her hands and once promising to spare the jury the details of her first adult film.

Trump is staring ahead.

At times he appears to be watching her testimony on the monitor in front of him. He closed his eyes at other times, as if to express his disdain at the whole thing.

Stormy Daniels hasn’t looked at him at all.

Stormy Daniels is being questioned about the golf event Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 2006.

She confirms that is where she first met Donald Trump.

‘It was a very brief encounter,’ Daniels recalls.

She says they were all introduced and say hello.

Daniels says she knew Trump was a golfer and had a show she ‘had never seen.’

The below photo was taken when they met at the tournament 18 years ago.

Stormy Daniels says she was 17 when she started exotic dancing.

Someone said she was a dancer too, and Daniels recalls thinking it was the same style as her: ‘ballet, modern, tap.’ But it was exotic dancing.

She recalls going to the club to watch. No one asked her for ID, so she started dancing on weekends.

Daniels is being questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger. The testimony started with her talking about her upbringing in Louisiana.

Daniels is speaking quickly and appears nervous on the stand.

Trump is not reacting, just starting ahead as Stormy started her testimony.

According to reporters in the room, it appeared as though he’s nearly nodding off.

She walked into court dressed in all black. Her glasses were perched on top of her head and her hair is dyed blonde with dark black streaks.

From Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior Political Reporter inside court

Stormy Daniels is called to the witness stand.

She is dressed in a black suit includng a dress and jacket.

Daniels has her hair which is blonde with black streaks is pulled up on her head. Her glasses were also perched atop her head.

Sally Franklin’s testimony has wrapped up.

Porn star Stormy Daniels is expected to be the second witness of the day.

Trump is surrounded by some of his closest staff in court today, as Stormy Daniels is expected to take the stand.

Prosecutor is asking Franklin about the use of ghostwriters in redirect.

Franklin is being asked to read several excerpts from Trump’s books including an acknowledgment of ghostwriter Meredith McIver.

She also reads an excerpt from Trump about the importance of signing his own checks.

Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche is now questioning Sally Franklin, a senior vice president at Penguin Random House.

Blanche is trying to distance Trump from his own books and suggested ghostwriter Meredith McIver had a larger role than him.

Blanche asks about the experiences of a ‘secondary author’ to help the ‘primary author.’

Franklin says she didn’t know what role McIver had in both books. She says all she knows is that McIver helped the ‘primary author in some way.’

Blanche also asks about who designs the cover.

From Rob Crilly, Senior Political Reporter inside court

The first witness of the day is an executive from Penguin Random House. Sally Franklin is what is known as a ‘custodial’ witness.

Her role is to help the prosecution enter two of Trump’s books, ‘How to Get Rich’ and ‘How to Think like a Billionaire,’ into evidence.

The prosecution is clearly trying to use Trump’s own words against him. Just as we heard about Trump’s tweets and Truth Social posts last week, today we have heard several passages that help prosecutors make their case that he was involved in the hush money payments.

So the excerpts we have heard set out, in his own words, how he keeps across all the details of his business, such as the checks and invoices that are at the heart of this case.

Trump appears to be enjoying the focus on his books. He looks like he is sharing jokes with his lawyers.

Sally Franklin is a senior vice president for Penguin Random House.

Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles started the day in court to objecting to porn star Stormy Daniels testifying about her alleged sexual act with Donald Trump.

‘We want to renew our objection to  the second witness, Stormy Daniels, in particular to her testifying about any details of a sexual act,’ Necheles said.

She said that it is ‘irrelevant’ and ‘unduly prejudicial’ and there would be no reason for it to be coming in.’

Judge Juan Merchan asked what she meant by ‘details of a sexual act’ questioning ‘what do you mean, more than just “we had sex?”’

Necheles said yes.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said the judge had placed limits on the testimony of Karen McDougal and Dino Sadujin – other witnesses in case – but not Daniels.

Hoffinger said that describing the sex ‘completes the story of the events that precipitated the payoff before the election.’

She said: ‘The details of the encounter are important.’

‘We don’t need to know the details,’ Judge Merchan said, but he will allow it to be mentioned in her testimony.

Trump looks out into the public gallery as if he’s trying to spot someone. Unusual behavior for him.

He stood staring at the press benches for a while, as if sizing up the crowd for what will likely be a big day

Normally he just slumps in his chair.

Susan Necheles is to Trump’s right, meaning she is likely to cross examine Stormy.

His son Eric is sat behind him alongside one of his attorneys, Alina Habba.

Trump is smiling and whispering in Necheles’ ear.

He’s wearing a gold tie and a navy suit.

Donald Trump has arrived at the Manhattan criminal court and is speaking outside the courtroom.

The ex-president slammed the trial claiming they have no case.

He also discussed the payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen calling them ‘legal expenses.’

He was joined by his lawyer Todd Blanche.

Prosecutors have arrived in the courtroom ahead of the start of Day 13 of the trial.

Donald Trump threatened to put a celebrity publicist out of business if she helped Stormy Daniels sell her story in 2012, according to messages entered into court evidence this week.

The bombshell claims come in instant messages between Gina Rodriguez and National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.

At the time of their exchange, interest in Trump had reached fever pitch.

He was the clear frontrunner for the 2016 Republican nomination and Howard’s then boss last week explained how he had agreed to hunt out negative stories in what prosecutors claim was a ‘catch and kill’ agreement to help his campaign.

‘I also had Donald Trump call my office 4 years ago when Stormy Daniels was going to do the Trump mistress story,’ Rodriguez wrote in April 2016.

‘He threatened that I would never do business again in entertainment.’

Donald Trump has departed Trump Tower in his motorcade.

He is expected at the Manhattan criminal court this morning where Stormy Daniels is expected to take the stand in the hush money case.

Before leaving, the ex-president paused to wave to onlookers before climbing into a vehicle.

She claimed that Trump had paid her a $130,000 ‘hush money’ payment to keep quiet about their sexual encounter in the run-up to the 2016 election.

Following New York prosecutors’ investigations into the payment, a grand jury in March 2023 indicted Trump on charges linked to business and fraud.

Donald Trump has now deleted a Truth Social post he had put up earlir this morning claims he had been told the identity of today’s witness.

In the post, he had called calling the witness ‘unprecedented.’

The former president also risked violating the gag order again. He has already been found in contempt for violating gag order ten times.

An attorney for Stormy Daniels says the porn actor will appear as a witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Tuesday.

Clark Brewster tells The Associated Press that Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is ‘likely’ to be called as a witness in the trial on Tuesday.

Judge Merchan ruled that Stormy will be able to testify about ‘sexual acts’ with Trump during her time on the stand.

It sets up a dramatic moment in the court later today once she enters the courtroom.

Trump prosecutor Susan Hoffinger told the judge that there would be ‘no descriptions of genitalia or anything.’

‘But it’s important to us to elicit that she had sex with him, and how she felt about it.’

Donald Trump claims he has just been told the identity of today’s witness and claimed his lawyers have been given ‘no time to prepare’.

‘This is unprecedented,’ he railed on Truth Social before deleting the post.

The former president also risked violating the gag order again.

‘No Judge has ever run a trial in such a biased and partisan way. He is CROOKED & HIGHLY CONFLICTED, even taking away my First Amendment Rights.

‘Now he’s threatening me with JAIL, & THEY HAVE NO CASE – This according to virtually all Legal Scholars & Experts! Why isn’t the Fake News Media reporting his Conflict?’

Prosecutors in Trump’s hush money case told Judge Merchan they could wrap their case two weeks from tomorrow.

That would mean the prosecution rests May 21. Merchan said he would not hold them to it.

Trump decried that it’s a ‘political witch hunt’ and a ploy to keep him off the election trail for another few weeks.

A fired-up Trump spoke to reporters before departing the courthouse.

Trump railed against the latest gag order violation handed down today by Judge Merchan against him.

He was threatened with serving jail time and has to pay $10,000 in fines for speaking out about the jury, witnesses and the judge.

But it didn’t seem to bother the former president, who told reporters as he departed court that he’d be willing to serve time to protect the First Amendment.

‘I have to watch every word I tell you people,’ he lamented.

‘Yes, we have questions, a simple question – I’d like to give it but I can’t talk about it because this judge has given me a gag order and said you’ll go to jail if you violate.’

‘And frankly, you know what, our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.’

Witnesses walked prosecutors step by step through the payments to Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen from the Trump Organization on Monday as the prosecution laid out its paper trail in the hush money case against Donald Trump.

Two longtime employees of the Trump Organization were called to the stand to testify in the case: Jeff McConney, a former controller who retired last year as well as Deborah Tarasoff who works in accounting and issued checks.

During McConney’s testimony, the jury was shown a series of documents including invoices, checks, spreadsheets and handwritten notes as the witness walked through how Cohen was ‘reimbursed’ for the alleged hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

In total, McConney testified that Cohen was paid $420,000 including money from Trump’s revocable trust and then from his personal account.

McConney recalled a conversation he had with Allen Weisselberg, who was chief financial officer of the Trump Organization about owing Cohen money.

Donald Trump returns to the hush money trial on Tuesday after the judge warned he faces jail if he violates the gag order again.

The former president was found in contempt of court and fined $1,000 by Judge Juan Merchan who admonished him for a ‘direct attack on the rule of law’.

The 77-year-old was warned he could face a stint behind bars he continues flouting the laws of the court.

Trump ended his day in court by suggesting he’s willing to go to jail to keep railing against his case.

Trump complained about the gag order that bars him from talking about jurors, witnesses and some others connected to the trial, telling reporters: ‘I have to watch every word I tell you people … because this judge has given me a gag order and said you’ll go to jail if you violate it.’

‘And frankly, you know what? Our Constitution is much more important than jail,’ he went on. “It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.”