Adult film star Stormy Daniels took the stand Tuesday at former President Donald Trump’s ongoing criminal trial, recounting their alleged affair in July 2006 and testifying about the “jump scare” she felt as Trump initiated their sexual encounter—and undercutting Trump’s claims she’s using the ex-president to enrich herself.
Adult film actress/director Stormy Daniels attends the 2019 Adult Video News Awards on January 26, ... [+]
Daniels testified Tuesday in the trial, in which Trump is charged with falsifying business records after he reimbursed ex-attorney Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment the lawyer made to cover up Daniels’ allegations of an affair with Trump.
The adult film star recounted how she met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in July 2006, at which she met Trump on the golf course before his security guard Keith Schiller asked her to have dinner with Trump that evening.
Daniels testified she initially refused to have dinner with Trump—telling the jury she told Schiller, “No with an expletive in front”—before her publicist later convinced her to go, telling Daniels, “What could possibly go wrong?”
During her conversation with Trump before they allegedly had sex, he asked her about the business side of the adult film industry—including whether she had ever tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease, which she said she hadn’t—and spoke about his wife Melania Trump, telling Daniels the two slept in different rooms.
After going to use the bathroom, Daniels testified she opened the door to discover Trump on the bed in his boxers, claiming the experience was like a “jump scare” and she “felt the blood leave my hands and my feet,” according to CNN, asking herself, “Oh my god, what did i misread to get here?”
Daniels testified she was not “threatened” by Trump but felt “an imbalance of power for sure,” noting “he was bigger and blocking the way,” CNN reports, before the adult film star recounted her and Trump’s sexual encounter to the jury and claimed she “left as fast as I could” once it was over.
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“I told very few people that we had actually had sex because I felt ashamed that I didn’t stop it,” Daniels said, as quoted by CNN. She said she had not been told to keep the encounter quiet, and Trump did not express concern about his wife finding out.
While Trump’s lawyers have previously characterized Daniels as using her alleged encounter with Trump for her own benefit, the adult film star testified she was fired from her podcast because she didn’t want to speak about the ex-president all the time. She also testified Trump suggested during their encounter that she should compete on Celebrity Apprentice as a way of showing the American public her intelligence—which ultimately never panned out—rather than the other way around. Trump compared Daniels to his daughter Ivanka Trump, because both are “smart and blonde and beautiful and people underestimate her as well,” according to The New York Times. After raising the Apprentice contract to her, Trump told Daniels, “I thought you were serious about what you wanted” when she tried to leave after seeing him on his bed, she testified, as quoted by The Guardian.
Daniels will continue testifying Tuesday as the trial continues, though it’s unclear how long her testimony will last. Daniels will be the most high profile witness to testify at the trial thus far, which began in mid-April and is slated to last for approximately four more weeks. Other witnesses who may be called to take the stand include Cohen, model Karen McDougal—who also alleges having an affair with Trump—the ex-president’s children and former attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Trump’s lawyers tried to block Daniels from testifying about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump at the last minute Tuesday morning, with attorney Susan Necheles arguing those details unnecessary in a case that’s about “books and records,” as quoted by Just Security. Prosecutors said it’s necessary for them to ask Daniels about general details of her encounter with Trump, but will not try to elicit any “salacious” details about their sexual affair. Judge Juan Merchan sided with the prosecutors, saying they can ask Daniels to confirm she and Trump had sex, “but we don’t need to know the details,” according to CNN.
Trump railed against Daniels’ testimony in a now-deleted Truth Social post on Tuesday, writing he had only been told about Tuesday’s witness that morning and the lack of time to prepare was “unprecedented.” Trump’s attorneys have not been given advance notice of who upcoming witnesses will be in the trial, given the threat of Trump attacking witnesses on social media, even as a gag order bars him from doing so. After the Associated Press reported Tuesday that Daniels was slated to testify that day, Trump deleted his Truth Social post, and he did not respond to questions Tuesday on his reasons for deleting the post before entering the courtroom.
Daniels has publicly alleged since 2018 that she and Trump had an affair in July 2006, claiming they had sex after meeting at the golf tournament in Utah. She claims they then met up one other time, in July 2007, but did not have sex that time. Cohen then paid Daniels $130,000 in the days before the 2016 election to keep her quiet, as Daniels’ then-lawyer Keith Davidson testified interest in Daniels’ story ramped up in the wake of an “Access Hollywood” tape showing Trump making derogatory comments about women. Reports of Cohen’s payment to cover up Daniels’ story first emerged in January 2018, which resulted in Cohen pleading guilty to campaign finance violations. Daniels’ appearance in Trump’s criminal trial comes after she previously sued him in an effort to get out of her non-disclosure agreement, which was later settled, and after she unsuccessfully sued him for defaming her by denying their affair.