In a major development in the hush money trial, adult film star Stormy Daniels testified at former US President Donald Trump's criminal trial on Tuesday that he told her "This is the only way you're getting out of the trailer park" prior to having sex with her in his hotel suite in 2006. During a trial in the Manhattan Court, Daniels told a New York jury she grew up as the daughter of a low-income single mother who was gone for days at a time and began working in strip clubs and in pornography before she met Trump at a Lake Tahoe golf tournament.
A New York real-estate mogul at the time, Trump was the celebrity host of a popular reality TV show known as "The Apprentice."
Daniels testified on Tuesday that she "blacked out" after Trump prevented her from leaving the room, though she consumed no drugs or alcohol. She said she woke up on the bed with her clothes off. "I was staring at the ceiling and didn't know how I got there, I was trying to think about anything other than what was happening there," Daniels testified as she described having sex with Trump.
"No, Donald Trump didn't use a condom': Stormy Daniels reveals
Asked if Trump used a condom during the encounter, Daniels said, “No.” Daniels said the encounter was “brief” and when it ended she was shaking.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she did not tell Trump to stop. "I didn't say anything at all," she said. She said she left the hotel room quickly afterwards. Trump, US president from 2017-21 and the Republican candidate for US president this year, did not react as he watched her testimony from the witness table.
What Donald Trump says
Trump has denied ever having sex with Daniels, now 45, and his defence team has argued that she was seeking a role on "The Apprentice." The alleged encounter ultimately led to the criminal trial, the first for a former US president. Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to cover up a $1,30,000 payment to Daniels to buy her silence during the 2016 election.
The Republican politician has pleaded not guilty and says the trial is an attempt to hobble his attempt to win back the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 election. Daniels testified Trump's bodyguard had asked her to join Trump for dinner.
"F no," Daniels said she responded. She said she changed her mind after a publicist convinced her the dinner could make a great story. When she arrived at his hotel suite, Trump greeted her wearing only satin pyjamas. "I said, 'Does Hugh Hefner know you stole his pyjamas?'" Daniels recalled saying, referring to Playboy impresario Hugh Hefner. Daniels told Trump to change, and he politely obliged, she said.
Why is Donald Trump facing court?
According to the allegations, the porn actor was paid $1,30,000 in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential race to keep quiet about what she says was an awkward and unexpected sexual encounter with Trump at a celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe in July 2006. Trump denies having sex with Daniels.
At the time of the payment, Trump and his campaign were reeling from the October 7, 2016, publication of the never-before-seen 2005 “Access Hollywood” footage — in which he boasted about grabbing women without their permission.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney, paid Daniels through a shell corporation he created, and the deal was finalized on November 1, 2016, just a week before Election Day. Prosecutors say payments from Trump reimbursing Cohen were falsely — and illegally — logged as legal fees in order to cover up their actual purpose. Trump’s lawyers contend the payments were legitimate legal expenses.
(With inputs from agency)
Also Read: 'Jury is 95% Democrats': Hush-money trial judge signals he may fine Trump again over gag order
