For a long time, David Pecker had a "great relationship" with Donald Trump. Here they were, on Tuesday, April 23, in Manhattan's Criminal Court. The trial offered a highly anticipated moment, with a bewildering dive into the world of tabloids, "checkbook journalism" that works on command and in defiance of the truth. The former CEO of American Media Inc (AMI), who was offered immunity in exchange for his cooperation, calmly detailed his ties of friendship and self-interest with the former president, culminating with his victorious campaign in 2015 and 2016.
Both New Yorkers, Pecker, originally from the Bronx, and Trump, born in Queens, had a lot in common: an outsider wanting to get revenge against traditional elites, high self-esteem, ambition, and a taste for influence. They spoke regularly on the phone in the 2010s. Sometimes, Pecker, then publisher of the powerful tabloid the National Enquirer, would visit the Trump Tower.
When the real estate developer decided to run in the Republican primaries in 2015, their communication intensified. After that, Michael Cohen, Trump's lawyer and fixer, acted as an intermediary. Pecker said he met Cohen in the 2000s, at a bar mitzvah. On June 16, 2015, the day of the candidacy announcement at Trump Tower, Pecker was among the guests.
At this point in his account in court, the key witness knew that the prosecution was about to tackle a key episode in its conspiracy thesis, designed to conceal Trump's sex scandals from the American public in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. The episode was a meeting between the three men – Trump, Pecker, and Cohen – at the Trump Tower, in August 2015. Campaign spokesperson Hope Hicks reportedly made regular appearances in the room during their exchanges.
According to the witness, on that day, the candidate and his lawyer asked Pecker what he could do to help the campaign. "I said what I would do is run or publish positive stories about Mr. Trump, and I would publish negative stories about his opponents." He offered to continue to run articles attacking Bill and Hillary Clinton, to Trump's satisfaction. It was also in the tabloid's interest: Those stories were selling. But the mutually beneficial relationship would end up serving Trump entirely.
At this meeting, Pecker pledged to be the candidate's "eyes and ears" and to react to any rumor "about women selling stories" about him. He would inform Cohen, who could "kill" the damaging stories. The 20-minute discussion sealed an unspoken pact. "It was just an agreement between friends," summed up Pecker, who nevertheless described it as "highly, highly confidential," when he informed the tabloid's editor-in-chief, Dylan Howard. "We were trying to help the campaign, and to do that, we want to keep this as quiet as possible," he told him.
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