Former US President Donald Trump watches as Stormy Daniels is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger during Trump's criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence the porn star in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, May 7, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. Photo: Reuters
It was the courtroom face-off everyone was waiting for – testimony of high legal importance and salacious sexual content.
Donald Trump, the former US president, who has always prided himself on being in charge and in control, was forced to sit silently and listen to a porn star describe in open court a bedroom encounter that he denies ever took place.
“When I opened the bathroom door to come out, Mr Trump had come into the bedroom,” Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, told the New York court.
“The intention was pretty clear, someone stripped down to their underwear posing on the bed waiting for you.”
Trump impassively stared ahead through Daniels’ testimony, which often veered into graphic sexual specifics, despite the judge’s best efforts.
“My clothes and shoes were off, I think I still had my bra on. We were in missionary position.”
Was he wearing a condom? “No.”
Was it brief? “Yes.”
If anyone was wrong-footed by the adult material, it was Judge Juan Merchan.
He appeared annoyed at times and struggled to keep Daniels on topic, ordering her to “just answer the questions” after repeated objections from the defence, several of which he upheld.
Daniels still revealed a plethora of unforgettable allegations about Trump.
Stormy Daniels. Photo: AP
She told the court Trump called her “honeybunch”, and she described multiple phone calls with him – some of which she put on speakerphone to entertain her friends.
The encounter took place in 2006, she recalled, when Trump had pushed to have dinner with her at a golf tournament.
Once she arrived via the penthouse lift, Trump said “it was a bit early, maybe we could talk a little bit and get to know each other”.
She said he asked if she had a boyfriend, about the economics of the porn industry and the threat of catching a sexually transmitted disease in her job.
“I said, well, we were tested every 30 days,” Daniels told the court, occasionally looking straight at Trump, who did not return her gaze.
‘Kiss me goodbye’
Daniels said their lengthy conversation touched on Trump’s wife Melania – with Trump saying “we actually don’t even sleep in the same room” – as well as whether Daniels should go on Trump’s hit show The Apprentice.
“He said I reminded him of his daughter because she’s smart and blonde,” Daniels added, in another excruciating comment.
When Trump showed her a magazine with him on the cover, she joked, “Someone should spank you with that”, she told the court.
“He gave me the look that he dared me to do it... so I swatted him with it right on the butt.”
In testimony that was at times calm and at times uncertain, she said they saw each other the next day, and met again at a function at Trump Tower in New York and in Los Angeles, but they did not have sex again.
Daniels wore a black jacket as she answered questions, with prosecutors seeking to prove Trump covered up payments to her to hush up the alleged sexual encounter.
The former president and current 2024 Republican candidate – wearing a blue suit and yellow tie – sat back in his chair, his head tilted, sometimes conferring with his lawyer.
Trump’s son Eric looked on, shaking his head.
Daniels appeared to have got under Trump’s skin even before she entered the shabby courtroom on the 15th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper.
“I have just recently been told who the witness is today. This is unprecedented, no time for lawyers to prepare,” he fumed on social media, later deleting the post.
On the witness stand, she made clear the sex was consensual and said he told her “that was great”.
And 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.” Daniels said her hands were shaking as she quickly got dressed.
Trump’s lawyers called for a mistrial, saying much of Daniels’ testimony had nothing to do with the fraud charges that he faces.
The judge denied the request but added: “I agree there were some things that were better left unsaid.” – AFP
