Porn star Stormy Daniels described to jurors an awkward and unexpected sexual encounter she claims she had with Donald Trump in 2006.
Ms. Daniels was testifying at the former president’s criminal trial for money she received to keep quiet about the alleged encounter during the presidential race.
Ms Daniels, 45, said she tried not to think about having sex with him while it was taking place.
Trump trial as it happened: Angry ex-president calls for mistrial against ‘difficult to control’ witness Stormy Daniels
Stormy Daniels recalls her bedroom encounter with Trump
Mr. Trump76, looked straight ahead as she entered the courtroom and sometimes shook her head and whispered to her lawyer.
After the lunch break, Mr. Trump’s defense lawyers asked for a mistrial because of remarks they called prejudicial and irrelevant.
The judge denied the defense’s request and said defense attorneys should have raised more objections during testimony.
Later in the day, Team Trump used the opportunity to interview Ms. Daniels to describe her as being motivated by personal hatred of the former president and hoping to profit from her allegations against him.
“Am I right that you hate President Trump?” » asked defense attorney Susan Necheles.
“Yes,” Ms. Daniels agreed.
Donald Trump in court. Photo: Reuters
Stormy Daniels in Manhattan in 2018. Photo: AP
Silent money payment
In the final weeks of Mr Trump’s 2016 Republican presidential campaign, Michael Cohen, his lawyer and personal fixer at the time, paid Ms Daniels $130,000 (£103,000) to keep silent over what she described as an awkward and unexpected sexual encounter with Mr. Trump at a celebrity golf course. released in Lake Tahoe in July 2006.
Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in 2018 related to the payments and served more than a year in prison — with federal prosecutors saying he acted at the direction of Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee again this year, has pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records to conceal the payment and denies having sex with Ms. Daniels.
Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, served more than a year in prison. Photo: AP
Power imbalance
Ms. Daniels described how an initial meeting at the golf tournament, where they discussed the adult film industry, turned into a “brief” sexual encounter that she said Mr. Trump initiated after the being invited to dinner and back to his hotel suite.
She said she did not feel physically or verbally threatened during the meeting, but she perceived an imbalance of power, with Mr. Trump being “taller and blocking the way.”
She said she had “a hard time getting my shoes back” after it was over “because my hands were shaking so much.”
“He said, ‘Oh, that was great. Let’s get together, honey,'” Ms. Daniels said. “I just wanted to leave.”
Learn more:
It was Donald Trump with his pants down – without a doubt | James Matthew
Daniels expected to return to the witness stand
Mr. Trump was indicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with the hush money payments.
Speaking outside court at the end of the day, Mr Trump said: “It was a very big day, a very telling day. As you see, their case is falling apart.”
Ms Daniels is expected to return to the witness box when the trial resumes tomorrow.
It comes as Mr Trump’s trial in Florida on charges of illegally possessing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving office, which was due to begin on May 20, was postponed indefinitely by a judge federal.
