Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial

NEW YORK (AP) — With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.

Jurors appeared riveted as Daniels offered a detailed and at times graphic account of the encounter Trump has denied. Trump stared straight ahead when Daniels entered the courtroom, later whispering to his lawyers and shaking his head as she testified.

The testimony was by far the most-awaited spectacle in a trial that has toggled between tabloidesque elements and dry record-keeping details. A courtroom appearance by a porn actor who says she had an intimate encounter with a former American president added to the long list of historic firsts in a landmark case laden with claims of sex, payoffs and cover-ups and unfolding as the presumptive Republican nominee makes another bid for the White House.

Daniels veered into salacious details despite the repeated objections of defense lawyers, who demanded a mistrial over what they said were prejudicial and irrelevant comments.

“This is the kind of testimony that makes it impossible to come back from,” attorney Todd Blanche said. “How can we come back from this in a way that’s fair to President Trump?”

The judge rejected the request and said defense lawyers should have raised more objections during the testimony. The Trump team later in the day used its opportunity to question Daniels to paint her as motivated by personal animus and profiting off her claims against Trump.

"Am I correct that you hate President Trump?” defense lawyer Susan Necheles asked Daniels.

“Yes,” she acknowledged.

Daniels' statements are central to the case because in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 Republican presidential campaign, his then-lawyer and personal fixer, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about what she says was an awkward and unexpected sexual encounter with Trump in July 2006 at a celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

Led by a prosecutor's questioning, Daniels described how an initial meeting at a golf tournament, where they discussed the adult film industry, progressed to a “brief” sexual encounter that she said Trump initiated after inviting her to dinner and back to his hotel suite.

She said she didn’t feel physically or verbally threatened, though she knew his bodyguard was outside the suite. There was also what she perceived as an imbalance of power: Trump “was bigger and blocking the way," she said.

At the time, Trump was married to his wife, Melania, who has not been in court for the trial. Daniels said Trump told her they did not sleep in the same room, prompting him to shake his head at the defense table.

After it ended, Daniels said, “It was really hard to get my shoes because my hands were shaking so hard.”

“He said: ‘Oh, it was great. Let’s get together again, honey bunch,’” Daniels said. “I just wanted to leave.”

Trump's reaction to her testimony at the defense table prompted Judge Juan Merchan to summon his lawyers to a quiet discussion at the bench.

“I understand that your client is upset at this point, but he is cursing audibly, and he is shaking his head visually and that’s contemptuous. It has the potential to intimidate the witness and the jury can see that,” Merchan said, adding, “I am speaking to you here at the bench because I don’t want to embarrass him.”

“I will talk to him,” Blanche replied.

In the years since the encounter was disclosed, Daniels has emerged as a vocal Trump antagonist, sharing her story innumerable times and criticizing the former president with mocking and pejorative jabs. But there was no precedent for Tuesday's testimony, when she came face-to-face with Trump and was asked under oath in an austere courtroom to describe her experiences to a jury weighing whether to convict a former American president of felony crimes for the first time in history.

She told jurors how she met Trump because the adult film studio she worked for at the time sponsored one of the holes on the golf course. She said they had a brief conversation when Trump's group passed through, chatting about the adult film industry and her directing abilities. The celebrity real estate developer remarked that she must be “the smart one” if she was making films, Daniels recalled.

Later, in an area known as the “gift room,” where celebrity golfers collected gift bags and swag, Trump remembered her as “the smart one” and asked her to dinner, Daniels said.

She said her then-publicist suggested in a phone call that Trump’s invitation was a good excuse to skip a work dinner and would “make a great story” and perhaps help her career.

“What could possibly go wrong?” she recalled the publicist saying.

The two saw each other periodically in the ensuing years, when she said she spurned Trump's advances.

In 2011, several years after she and Trump were last in touch, she said she learned from her agent that the story of her encounter with Trump had made its way to a magazine.

She said she agreed to an interview for $15,000 because “I’d rather make the money than somebody make money off of me, and at least I could control the narrative.” The story never ran, but later that year, she was alarmed when an item turned up on a website.

Perhaps seeking to preempt defense claims that she was in urgent need of a massive payout, Daniels testified that she was in the best financial shape of her life when she authorized her manager to shop her story during the 2016 presidential campaign.

She said she had no intent of approaching Cohen or Trump to have them pay her.

“My motivation wasn’t money," she said. "It was to get the story out,” she testified.

But Necheles zeroed in on that point, pressing Daniels on the fact that she owes Trump hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees stemming from an unsuccessful defamation lawsuit and that she tweeted in 2022 that she “will go to jail before I pay a penny.”

“That was me saying, ‘I will not pay for telling the truth,’” Daniels testified Tuesday.

She later forcefully denied that she was trying to squeeze Trump for money.

"You were looking to extort money from President Trump,” Necheles said.

“False,” Daniels responded.

“Well, that’s what you did,” the lawyer said.

“False,” Daniels answered.

Daniels was expected to return to the witness stand Thursday, when the trial resumes.

Testimony so far has made clear that at the time of the payment to Daniels, Trump and his campaign were reeling from the October 2016 publication of the never-before-seen 2005 “Access Hollywood” footage in which he boasted about grabbing women’s genitals without their permission.

Before that video was made public, "there was very little if any interest” in Daniels' claims, according to testimony earlier in the trial from her then-lawyer, Keith Davidson. A deal was reached with the National Enquirer for Daniels’ story, but the tabloid backed out. Davidson began negotiating with Cohen directly, hiked up the price to $130,000, and reached a deal.

After the deadline for the $130,000 payment from Cohen came and went, she authorized Davidson to cancel the deal. He did, by email, according to documents shown in court. But about two weeks later, the deal was revived.

Daniels testified that she ended up with about $96,000 of the $130,000 payment, after her lawyer and agent got their cuts.

She also said she was steadfast in abiding by her nondisclosure agreement with Cohen, declining to comment to The Wall Street Journal for a November 2016 story that reported she had been in discussions to tell her story on “Good Morning America” but that nothing had come of it. She also declined to comment for the newspaper before it broke the news of her hush money arrangement in 2018.

After that story was published, her life turned into “chaos,” she testified.

“I was front and foremost everywhere,” she recalled.

Prosecutors are building toward their star witness, Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the hush money payments.

Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the payments. The trial is the first of his four criminal cases to reach a jury.

Tucker reported from Washington.

Former President Donald Trump attends his trial at the Manhattan Criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024 in New York. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump, center, and attorney Susan Necheles, left, attend his trial at Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump, center, and attorney Susan Necheles, left, attend his trial at Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he returns to the courtroom following an afternoon break in his trial, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump, followed by his attorney Todd Blanche, walks to speak to reporters following the day's proceedings in his trial, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

Stormy Daniels testifies in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York, about the encounter in former President Donald Trump's hotel penthouse, showing how she found Trump in his bedroom lying on his bed. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Jurors take notes as Stormy Daniels testifies in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York, (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Stormy Daniels, second from left, exits the courthouse in New York, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Porn actor Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, took the stand mid-morning Tuesday and testified about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, among other things. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Judge Juan Merchan presides over proceedings as Stormy Daniels, far right, answers questions on direct examination by assistant district attorney Susan Hoffinger in Manhattan criminal court as former President Donald Trump and defense attorney Todd Blanche look on, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Former President Donald Trump gestures to reporters as he leaves the courtroom during a break in his trial, Tuesday, May 7, 2024 in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Tuesday, May 7, 2024.(Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump, joined by his attorney Susan Necheles, left, sits at the defense table in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)

In this courtroom sketch, Stormy Daniels testifies on the witness stand as Judge Juan Merchan looks on in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York.. A photo of Donald Trump and Daniels from their first meeting is displayed on a monitor. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump, with his lawyer Todd Blanche, right, speaks to members of the media as he arrives at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump, with his lawyer Todd Blanche, right, speaks to members of the media as he arrives at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump, center, sits at the defense table with his attorneys Susan Necheles, from left, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump, with his lawyer Todd Blanche, right, speaks to members of the media as he arrives at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump sits in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 in New York. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

FILE - Stormy Daniels arrives at an event in Berlin, on Oct. 11, 2018. Witness testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial is set to move forward again and all eyes are on who will be called next. An attorney for Stormy Daniels says the porn actor is expected to appear as a witness on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Former President Donald Trump attends his trial at the Manhattan Criminal court, Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump attends his trial at the Manhattan Criminal court, Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before departing Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, Pool)

DALLAS (AP) — A smiling Luka Doncic pumped his fist as he settled in next to Kyrie Irving to answer questions about the Dallas Mavericks advancing to the Western Conference finals for the second time in three seasons.

Doncic's co-star wasn't there for the run that ended with a five-game loss to eventual champion Golden State two years ago. Irving hasn't played this deep in the playoffs since he and LeBron James were together in Cleveland seven years ago.

And don't think that didn't occur to the eight-time All-Star in the locker room, considering all the chaos and controversy — plenty of it self-inflicted — surrounding Irving since then.

“I had to make an impromptu speech, and I was doing my best not to let some tears come down from my eyes because it feels like it’s been a long time coming just being back in this position,” Irving said after Dallas ousted top-seeded Oklahoma City with a 117-116 victory in Game 6 on Saturday night.

“It’s just a long way back,” Irving said. “Look back, parts of my career where I took it for granted, getting to conference finals three years straight, and then not getting back for a little bit can weigh on you as a competitor. That’s what made the celebration feel that much better.”

It wasn't just conference finals, either. James and Irving went to three straight NBA Finals together, winning once and losing twice before Irving was traded to Boston.

The Celtics made the East finals in their first season with Irving in 2018, but he missed the entire postseason because of a knee injury.

Teaming with Kevin Durant in Brooklyn never worked, for many reasons, before a trade request landed Irving in Dallas.

The series victory over the Thunder wasn't about offensive dominance for Irving. Instead, the score-first guard has played what coach Jason Kidd called the best defense he's seen Irving play in any postseason.

Irving had two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Mavs rallied from 17 points down in the second half of the clincher against the Thunder. But the intangibles always seemed to come first.

“When you look at his series, yes, he didn't have the offensive explosion,” Kidd said. “He was the glue in this series. He kept everybody together. He kept everybody positive. Yes, it was the hardest thing. But it only gets harder. And that's what makes it fun for the great ones.”

The first two months of the Doncic-Irving pairing last year were a dud for the players now with 13 All-Star appearances between them. Same for Dallas, which decided to tank at the end of last season to try to preserve a draft pick even with a mathematical chance to make the play-in tournament.

The plan worked and landed center Dereck Lively II, who had a significant impact as a rookie. But the roster still didn’t seem quite right, with the Mavs just three games over .500 after blowing a 25-point lead in a loss to Milwaukee to start February.

This time, the trade-deadline efforts worked, with the additions of P.J. Washington Jr. and Daniel Gafford shortly after the loss to the Bucks boosting Dallas on both ends of the court.

The Mavericks finished 24-9 to rise to fifth in the West and ousted the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round with the same sequence of wins and losses that beat Oklahoma City.

“This group has been together for like five months,” Doncic said. “We’re capable of more and more. Big-time trades and big-time adjustments. Keep bringing them.”

For his first deep playoff run two years ago, Doncic didn't have a sidekick with nearly the playoff pedigree of Irving.

The 25-year-old superstar is still the headliner, and the Mavs will have to play without home-court advantage for the third time in three series this postseason.

That was the case for the second round in 2022, when Dallas pulled a Game 7 stunner by blowing out Phoenix. The Mavs were never much of a threat against the Warriors.

Now it's time to see what the addition of Irving will mean against the Denver-Minnesota winner starting Wednesday night. The Nuggets and Timberwolves play Game 7 on Sunday night.

From the 32-year-old Irving's point of view, it's more about what it means for him having Doncic, who has playoff career averages of 31 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.2 assists, next to him for the first time in the postseason.

“We all know how skilled he is, we all know his numbers and stuff like that, but I want to be a teammate and brother next to him that helps him grow like a man and helps him achieve the things that he wants to achieve,” Irving said. “I know he feels the same way.”

After a second playoff series victory, Doncic sure seemed happy sitting next to Irving.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, rear, helps Dallas Mavericks' Derrick Jones Jr. (55) to his feet after Jones Jr., sunk a shot in the second hald of Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Fans cheer in the second half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Mavericks' Kyrie Irving reacts to play in the second half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic (77) celebrates a basket in front of Oklahoma City Thunder's Cason Wallace (22) in the second half of Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Mavericks' Derrick Jones Jr., center, celebrates the team's win as Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, and Jaylin Williams walk away following Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Mavericks' Kyrie Irving hugs his child after the team's win in Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic celebrates the teams win in Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Mavericks' Kyrie Irving (11) pauses as he waits to do a broadcast interview following the teams win in Game 6 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)