President Donald Trump wrapped up his five-hour nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with surprisingly warm words and hope for "a bright new future" for Kim's isolated and impoverished nation.
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, reaches to shakes hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Yet he immediately faced pointed questions at home about whether he got little and gave away much in his push to make a deal with the young autocrat — including an agreement to halt U.S. military exercises with South Korea.
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President Donald Trump wrapped up his five-hour nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with surprisingly warm words and hope for "a bright new future" for Kim's isolated and impoverished nation.
Yet he immediately faced pointed questions at home about whether he got little and gave away much in his push to make a deal with the young autocrat — including an agreement to halt U.S. military exercises with South Korea.
Meeting with staged ceremony on a Singapore island, Trump and Kim signed a joint statement Tuesday agreeing to work toward a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, although the timeline and tactics were left unclear. Trump later promised to end "war games," with ally South Korea, a concession to Kim that appeared to catch the Pentagon and Seoul government off guard and sowed confusion among Trump's Republican supporters in Washington.
The head-scratching was a fitting end for a meeting marked by unpredictability. The face to face was unthinkable just months earlier as the two leaders traded insults and nuclear threats. In agreeing to the summit, Trump risked granting Kim his long-sought recognition on the world stage in hopes of ending the North's nuclear program.
While progress on the nuclear question was murky, the leaders spent the public portions of their five hours together expressing optimism and making a show of their new relationship. Trump declared he and Kim had developed "a very special bond." He gave Kim a glimpse of the presidential limousine. Kim, for his part, said the leaders had "decided to leave the past behind" and promised, "The world will see a major change."
Soon, Kim departed the venue, while a clearly ebullient Trump held forth for more than an hour before the press on what he styled as a historic achievement to avert the prospect of nuclear war. Before leaving himself, Trump tossed out pronouncements on U.S. alliances, human rights and the nature of the accord that he and Kim had signed.
The details of how and when the North would denuclearize appear yet to be determined, as are the nature of the unspecified "protections" Trump is pledging to Kim and his government.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency said the two leaders "shared recognition to the effect that it is important to abide by the principle of step-by-step and simultaneous action in achieving peace, stability and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." KCNA also reported that Trump had expressed his intention to lift sanctions "over a period of good-will dialogue" between the two countries.
The Singapore accord largely amounts to an agreement to continue discussions, echoing previous public statements and commitments. It does not, for instance, include an agreement to take steps toward ending the technical state of warfare between the U.S. and North Korea.
It was unclear whether South Korea was aware of Trump's decision before he announced it publicly. U.S. Forces Korea said it was unaware of any policy change. Trump phoned South Korean President Moon Jae-in after leaving Singapore to brief him on the discussions. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Seoul Wednesday for follow-up meetings.
The U.S. has stationed combat troops in South Korea since the end of the Korean War in the 1950s and has used them in a variety of drills. The next scheduled major exercise, involving tens of thousands of troops, normally is held in August.
Lawmakers, too, were looking for details. Republicans emerged from a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence wanting more information on which exercises were on hold. Colorado Sen. Corey Gardner said Pence told them that small-scale exercises would continue, but "war games will not." Pence's spokeswoman later denied that comment.
"There will be certain exercises that will continue." Gardner told AP, adding he hoped "there's further clarification what that means."
The agreement's language on North Korea's nuclear program was similar to what the leaders of North and South Korea came up with at their own summit in April. Trump and Kim referred back to the so-called Panmunjom Declaration, which contained a weak commitment to denuclearization but no specifics on how to achieve it.
The U.S. president brushed off questions about his public embrace of the autocrat whose people have been oppressed for decades. He did say that Otto Warmbier, an American university student who died last year just days after his release from imprisonment in North Korea, "did not die in vain" because his death helped bring about the nuclear talks.
Ahead of the summit, Trump had predicted the two men might strike a nuclear deal or forge a formal end to the Korean War in the course of a single meeting or over several days. But in the hours before they met, the White House unexpectedly announced Trump would depart earlier than expected.
North Korean journalists film the motorcade of North Korea leader Kim Jong Un as they leave the St. Regis Hotel on the way to the Capella Hotel in Singapore, Tuesday, June 12, 2018, where the summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump will take place. (AP Photo/Yong Teck Lim)
Meeting with staged ceremony on a Singapore island, Trump and Kim signed a joint statement Tuesday agreeing to work toward a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, although the timeline and tactics were left unclear. Trump later promised to end "war games," with ally South Korea, a concession to Kim that appeared to catch the Pentagon and Seoul government off guard and sowed confusion among Trump's Republican supporters in Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The head-scratching was a fitting end for a meeting marked by unpredictability. The face to face was unthinkable just months earlier as the two leaders traded insults and nuclear threats. In agreeing to the summit, Trump risked granting Kim his long-sought recognition on the world stage in hopes of ending the North's nuclear program.
President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Island, Tuesday, June 12, 2018, in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
While progress on the nuclear question was murky, the leaders spent the public portions of their five hours together expressing optimism and making a show of their new relationship. Trump declared he and Kim had developed "a very special bond." He gave Kim a glimpse of the presidential limousine. Kim, for his part, said the leaders had "decided to leave the past behind" and promised, "The world will see a major change."
U. S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (Kevin Lim/The Straits Times via AP)
Soon, Kim departed the venue, while a clearly ebullient Trump held forth for more than an hour before the press on what he styled as a historic achievement to avert the prospect of nuclear war. Before leaving himself, Trump tossed out pronouncements on U.S. alliances, human rights and the nature of the accord that he and Kim had signed.
U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions about the summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un during a press conference at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The details of how and when the North would denuclearize appear yet to be determined, as are the nature of the unspecified "protections" Trump is pledging to Kim and his government.
As Trump acknowledged that denuclearization would not be accomplished overnight, the North suggested Wednesday that Trump had moved away from his demand for complete denuclearization before U.S. sanctions on the long-isolated country are removed.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiles while walking with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sentosa Island in Singapore Tuesday, June 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The state-run Korean Central News Agency said the two leaders "shared recognition to the effect that it is important to abide by the principle of step-by-step and simultaneous action in achieving peace, stability and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." KCNA also reported that Trump had expressed his intention to lift sanctions "over a period of good-will dialogue" between the two countries.
The White House did not immediately respond to the North Korean characterization of the deal.
In this photo released by the Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore, U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One following a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore via AP)
The Singapore accord largely amounts to an agreement to continue discussions, echoing previous public statements and commitments. It does not, for instance, include an agreement to take steps toward ending the technical state of warfare between the U.S. and North Korea.
Nor does it detail plans for North Korea to demolish a missile engine testing site, a concession Trump said he'd won, or Trump's promise to end military exercises in the South while negotiations between the U.S. and the North continue. Trump cast that decision as a cost-saving measure, but also called the exercises "inappropriate" while talks continue. North Korea has long objected to the drills as a security threat.
People look at the extra edition of Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reporting the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, at Shimbashi Station in Tokyo, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. (Suo Takekuma/Kyodo News via AP)
It was unclear whether South Korea was aware of Trump's decision before he announced it publicly. U.S. Forces Korea said it was unaware of any policy change. Trump phoned South Korean President Moon Jae-in after leaving Singapore to brief him on the discussions. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Seoul Wednesday for follow-up meetings.
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump prepare to sign a document at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The U.S. has stationed combat troops in South Korea since the end of the Korean War in the 1950s and has used them in a variety of drills. The next scheduled major exercise, involving tens of thousands of troops, normally is held in August.
The Pentagon said Tuesday it was consulting with the White House and others, but was silent on whether the August exercise would proceed. Mattis' chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White, told reporters he was "in full alignment" with Trump.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their meeting at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018, in Singapore. (Kevin Lim/The Straits Times via AP)
Lawmakers, too, were looking for details. Republicans emerged from a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence wanting more information on which exercises were on hold. Colorado Sen. Corey Gardner said Pence told them that small-scale exercises would continue, but "war games will not." Pence's spokeswoman later denied that comment.
A man watches TV screens showing U.S. President Donald Trump, right, meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, during a news program In Hong Kong, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
"There will be certain exercises that will continue." Gardner told AP, adding he hoped "there's further clarification what that means."
North Korea is believed to possess more than 50 nuclear warheads, with its atomic program spread across more than 100 sites constructed over decades to evade international inspections. Trump insisted that strong verification of denuclearization would be included in a final agreement, saying it was a detail his team would begin sorting out with the North Koreans next week.
John Miller, of Manchester, N.H., a former U.S. Army sergeant who served as a forward radio relay operator in Vietnam, watches as President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while having a beer at the American Legion Post #2 in Manchester on Monday, June 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The agreement's language on North Korea's nuclear program was similar to what the leaders of North and South Korea came up with at their own summit in April. Trump and Kim referred back to the so-called Panmunjom Declaration, which contained a weak commitment to denuclearization but no specifics on how to achieve it.
The document also included an agreement to work to repatriate remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action from the Korean War.
But Tuesday's summit was as much about theatrics as the details of a deal.
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un leave after a signing ceremony at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018, in Singapore. (Kevin Lim/The Straits Times via AP)
The U.S. president brushed off questions about his public embrace of the autocrat whose people have been oppressed for decades. He did say that Otto Warmbier, an American university student who died last year just days after his release from imprisonment in North Korea, "did not die in vain" because his death helped bring about the nuclear talks.
In the run-up to his face-to-face with Kim, Trump had appeared unconcerned about the implications of feting an authoritarian leader accused by the U.S. of ordering the public assassination of his half brother with a nerve agent, executing his uncle by firing squad and presiding over a notorious gulag estimated to hold 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners.
In their joint statement, the two leaders promised to "build a lasting and stable peace regime" on the Korean Peninsula. Trump has dangled the prospect of economic investment in the North as a sweetener for giving up its nuclear weapons. The longtime property developer-turned-politician later mused about the potential value of condos on the country's beachfront real estate.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un stop to talk with the media as they walk from their lunch at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Ahead of the summit, Trump had predicted the two men might strike a nuclear deal or forge a formal end to the Korean War in the course of a single meeting or over several days. But in the hours before they met, the White House unexpectedly announced Trump would depart earlier than expected.
Aware that the eyes of the world were on a moment many people never expected to see, Kim said many of those watching would think it was a scene from a "science fiction movie."
Critics of the summit leapt at the leaders' handshake and Kim's moonlight stroll along the glittering Singapore waterfront as further evidence that Trump was helping legitimize Kim on the world stage.
President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sentosa Island, Tuesday, June 12, 2018, in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
"It's a huge win for Kim Jong Un, who now — if nothing else — has the prestige and propaganda coup of meeting one on one with the president, while armed with a nuclear deterrent," said Michael Kovrig, a northeast Asia specialist at the International Crisis Group in Washington.
Trump responded that he was embracing diplomacy with Kim in hopes of saving as many as 30 million lives.
The North has faced crippling diplomatic and economic sanctions for years as it has advanced development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Pompeo held firm to Trump's position that sanctions will remain in place until North Korea denuclearizes — and said they would even increase if diplomatic discussions did not progress positively.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump returned to court Thursday for the third day of witness testimony in his hush money trial.
The trial resumed around the same time the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Washington over whether he should be immune from prosecution for actions he took during his time as president.
At his trial in Manhattan, veteran tabloid publisher David Pecker took the stand again Thursday after testifying previously about his longtime friendship with the former president and a pledge he made to be the “eyes and ears” of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The testimony was sought to bolster prosecutors’ premise that Trump sought to illegally influence the 2016 election through a “catch-and-kill” strategy to buy up and then spike negative stories. Key to that premise are so-called hush money payments that were paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, along with the doorman.
Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of those payments and falsely recorded them as legal expenses. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury.
Currently:
— No one is above the law. Supreme Court will decide if that includes Trump while he was president
— The National Enquirer was the go-to tabloid for many years. Trump helped change that
— Investigator says Trump, allies were uncharged co-conspirators in plot to overturn Michigan election
— Trump trial highlights: David Pecker testifies on ‘catch-and-kill’ scheme
— Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial
— The hush money case is just one of Trump's legal cases. See the others here
Here's the latest:
Defense attorney Emil Bove on Thursday traced former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker’s long relationship with Donald Trump early in his cross-examination during the former president's hush money trial in New York.
Bove showed how Pecker had flexed his power to help his friend long before the presidential election.
Bove said back in 1998, the former publishing executive tried to squelch a negative National Enquirer story about Trump’s then-wife Marla Maples. Though the story was published anyway, Pecker acknowledged he attempted to stop it.
“Seventeen years of providing President Trump with a heads up about potentially negative publicity?” asked Bove.
“That’s correct,” Pecker replied.
The reason for the long-running collaboration, Bove posited, was that Trump helped drive magazine sales — and Pecker wanted to maintain close access to him.
At one point in the 1990s, Pecker testified, the publisher launched Trump Style, a magazine built around Trump’s brand and real estate holdings.
Bove’s questioning also shed light on the origins of the term “catch-and-kill,” at least as it relates to Trump’s case.
“Before this investigation started, you had never heard the phrase ‘catch-and-kill,’ isn’t that correct?” Bove asked.
“Yes,” Pecker answered.
Donald Trump’s lawyers are getting their first chance to question a witness in the former president's hush money trial Thursday in New York.
Defense attorney Emil Bove opened his cross-examination of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker by noting that he managed American Media Inc. to make money and asking about what Pecker has described as its “checkbook journalism.”
Pecker acknowledged that during his tenure, the tabloid and magazine publisher printed only about half the stories it bought — a fact the defense appears to be eliciting in order to suggest there was nothing unusual or criminal about the “catch and kill” operations involving claims about Trump.
Prosecutors wrapped up their questioning of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker by asking whether he bears former President Donald Trump any ill will.
“On the contrary,” he said, “I felt that Donald Trump was my mentor. He helped me throughout my career.”
Although they haven’t spoken since the FBI began investigating the hush money arrangements several years ago — Pecker said he thought it would be inappropriate for them to communicate, given the probe — “I still consider him a friend,” Pecker said.
Trump looked on stoically as Pecker said so.
When asked earlier Thursday what he thought of Pecker's testimony, Trump said he was a “nice guy.”
The silver-haired, mustachioed former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker appeared at ease on his third day on the witness stand Thursday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, calmly bringing to life the machinations he says were involved in identifying and burying stories on Trump’s behalf.
He vividly recounted conversations he says he had with Trump and the former president’s onetime lawyer and henchman Michael Cohen. He recalled meetings at Trump Tower and a dinner at the White House.
He shed light on the inner workings of the Enquirer and the supermarket tabloid industry — and its use of “checkbook journalism” and “catch-and-kill” tactics — and the frantic race to pay off porn actor Stormy Daniels after the release of Trump’s infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.
Many of the details were previously known, but they’d been relegated to court papers and news articles. At Trump’s trial they have a narrator — a grandfatherly figure who made his living in the world of celebrity gossip.
The ex-publisher divided his focus between the jury and the prosecutor questioning him. Jurors looked on, often with rapt attention.
David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, did not look at Donald Trump while walking by him on his way back to the witness stand at the former president's hush money trial Thursday in New York.
Pecker testified that Trump invited him to a White House dinner in July 2017 to thank him for helping the campaign — and asked for an update on former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The Enquirer had paid McDougal for the rights to her story claiming an affair with Trump and then kept it under wraps, Pecker testified earlier.
Trump was furious when McDougal gave an interview to CNN’s Anderson Cooper in March 2018, Pecker testified.
“I thought you had and we had an agreement with Karen McDougal that she can’t give any interviews or be on any TV channels,” Pecker testified that Trump told him by phone.
He said he explained to Trump that the agreement had been changed to allow her to speak to the press after a 2016 Wall Street Journal article about his tabloid’s $150,000 payout to McDougal.
“Mr. Trump got very aggravated when he heard that I amended it, and he couldn’t understand why,” Pecker told jurors.
Donald Trump waved his fist as he returned to the courtroom after a lunch break in his hush money trial in New York.
He did not respond to a shouted question about the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments earlier Thursday in his bid to avoid prosecution over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Meanwhile, the judge in the New York case signed an order setting in motion arguments, not necessarily immediately, over prosecutors’ request earlier in the day for more contempt findings against Trump.
Prosecutors had already asked the judge to fine Trump over 10 social media posts they say violate a gag order that bars him from making public statements about witnesses and jurors.
Thursday morning, they flagged four additional episodes, including comments at a press event earlier in the day about key witness David Pecker.
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker recalled Thursday a meeting with Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2017, about two weeks before his inauguration, at which they discussed former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
The testimony came in Trump's hush money trial in New York shortly before the court broke for lunch.
As Pecker recalled it, Trump introduced him to a group of top aides as the National Enquirer owner and joked: “He probably knows more than anyone in this room.”
After dismissing the aides, Trump asked Pecker for an update on “our girl,” meaning McDougal, according to Pecker. The Enquirer had paid McDougal for the rights to her story claiming an affair with Trump, Pecker testified earlier.
Pecker said he reassured Trump that McDougal was keeping quiet, and Trump thanked him for handling the matters with McDougal and Dino Sajudin, the former doorman at one of Trump’s buildings who was also paid for his claims.
“He said that the stories were very embarrassing,” Pecker recalled.
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker recalled an irate Donald Trump calling him a day after The Wall Street Journal published an article shortly before the 2016 election.
Pecker's testimony came in his third day on the stand in Trump's hush money trial in New York, and as arguments at the Supreme Court in Washington in a separate case over Trump's presidential immunity were concluding.
The Journal article broke the news of the Enquirer’s $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal for the rights to the former Playboy model’s story claiming an affair with Trump.
“Donald Trump was very upset, saying, ‘How could this happen? I thought you had this under control. Either you or one of your people leaked the story,’” Pecker testified.
He said he told Trump that perhaps McDougal or someone connected with her had tipped off the Journal.
“Our call ended very abruptly. He didn’t say goodbye, which was very unusual,” Pecker testified.
Pecker testified that Enquirer owner American Media's response to the Journal that the company had “not paid people to kill damaging stories about Mr. Trump” was a lie.
“I wanted to protect my company, I wanted to protect myself, and I wanted also to protect Donald Trump,” Pecker explained on the witness stand.
The court broke for lunch shortly afterward. Trump left the courtroom without addressing reporters in the hallway.
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker was asked by a prosecutor Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York about porn actor Stormy Daniels and her claim of a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump. The former president denies it happened.
On the stand, Pecker recalled the night after the public learned of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump discussed grabbing women sexually without asking permission, when the Enquirer's editor at the time called with an urgent matter.
The editor said he had heard from Daniels’ representatives that she was trying to sell her story and that the tabloid could acquire it for $120,000 if it decided right away, Pecker told jurors.
Pecker said he put his foot down, noting to the editor that the magazine was already $180,000 in the hole for Trump-related catch-and-kill transactions.
“I said we already paid $30,000 to the doorman, we already paid $150,000 to Karen McDougal,” Pecker recalled. “I am not a bank and we are not paying out any further disbursements or monies.”
At the same time, Pecker said, he told former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen that he should buy the story and “take it off the market” to avoid it getting out.
While jurors were on a break Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York, both sides debated disputed exhibits that prosecutors want jurors to see.
Some of the disputed evidence, which the judge is keeping out of the trial for now, involved text messages then-National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard exchanged with a relative around the time of Trump’s 2016 election.
“At least if he wins, I’ll be pardoned for electoral fraud,” Howard said in one of the messages, which was read aloud in court by a prosecutor.
In another message, Howard informed his relative that Trump has “just been named president elect.”
The relative’s response — “Oh dear” — elicited laughter from the gallery when it was read in the courtroom.
The messages were not shown in court.
Trump’s lawyers argued the messages were hearsay, not business records, and couldn’t be used as evidence.
The jury then returned to hear more from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.
Former President Trump’s hush money trial in New York and his lawyers’ arguments about presidential immunity before the U.S. Supreme Court provided news outlets with an extraordinary split-screen moment Thursday.
“To put it plainly, there is a lot going on,” said MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart shortly before the Supreme Court arguments started.
MSNBC, Newsmax and NewsNation concentrated fully on the Supreme Court arguments as they were taking place. As they began, Fox News Channel covered them with a small box on its screen giving a live view outside the Manhattan courtroom where Trump was on trial, but it quickly dropped the box.
CNN tried to capture both, its audio carrying the Supreme Court arguments, while a live written blog with details of what was going on in the New York trial took up about one-third of its screen.
The New York Times’ website carried live blogs of both trials side by side under the headline, “Keeping track of Trump’s legal woes.” News sites for both The Washington Post and The Associated Press also had two live blogs but gave the Supreme Court case more prominence than the hush money trial.
Trump left the New York courtroom after a break from the morning’s testimony, giving a thumbs up to reporters who shouted questions, but he didn’t say anything.
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified Thursday at Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York that he believes Trump was aware of a contract with Karen McDougal as she sought to sell her story about claims of an affair.
Asked by a prosecutor whether he knew if anyone other than former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was aware of the Enquirer’s contract with McDougal, Pecker said: “I believe that Donald Trump did.”
Pecker testified he was leery of paying McDougal on Trump’s behalf because of trouble he ran into with an earlier arrangement benefiting Arnold Schwarzenegger during the movie star’s run for California governor in 2003.
McDougal’s contract gave American Media Inc., which owned the Enquirer and several fitness magazines, exclusive rights to her story on any relationship with a married man. Pecker said that clause was specifically about Trump.
Based on his experience with Schwarzenegger, Pecker said he “wanted to be comfortable that the agreement that we were going to prepare for Karen McDougal met all the obligations with respect to a campaign contribution.”
But he said the real purpose of the deal was to keep McDougal’s story from becoming public and potentially influencing the 2016 presidential election.
Former President Donald Trump listened intently Thursday at his hush money trial as longtime friend David Pecker testified in detail about the National Enquirer’s efforts to buy and kill unflattering stories related both to Trump and other celebrities.
He passed along notes to the two attorneys on either side of him.
Pecker testified that Karen McDougal demanded $150,000 — plus writing assignments and other business opportunities — for the rights to her story about claims of an affair with Trump. But according to Pecker, it wasn’t clear who was going to pay for it.
Pecker said Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, initially asked him to front the costs: “I said, ‘Michael, why should I pay? I just paid $30,000 for the doorman story. Now you’re asking me to pay $150,000 for the Karen story, plus all of these other additional items that she wants to do.’”
When asked how he would be reimbursed, Pecker said, Cohen assured him: “Don’t worry about it. I’m your friend. The boss will take care of it.”
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker took the stand Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York and recalled receiving a telephone call from Trump during the tabloid’s pursuit of former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s claims of an extramarital affair.
“When I got on the phone, Mr. Trump said to me, ‘Karen is a nice girl. Is it true that a Mexican group is looking to buy her story for $8 million?’" Pecker said. “I said, ‘I absolutely don’t believe there’s a Mexican group out there looking to buy her story for $8 million.’”
Trump then asked Pecker what he should do, the ex-publisher said. Pecker testified that he told Trump, “I think you should buy the story” and keep it quiet.
“I believed the story was true,” Pecker explained. “I thought it would be very embarrassing to himself and to his campaign.”
Prosecutors asked the judge Thursday as former President Donald Trump's hush money trial resumed to consider whether he violated a gag order four more times with remarks he made outside court this week.
Among others, prosecutor Christopher Conroy flagged comments that Trump made just Thursday morning at an early-morning press event about David Pecker. Pecker, the former National Enquirer publisher who has been testifying as a prosecution witness, returned to the stand Thursday.
Trump had said Pecker has “been very nice,” which Conroy characterized as “a message to Pecker: Be nice." He argued that it’s also a message to other potential witnesses that Trump has a platform and will use it to attack them if they aren’t kind to him.
The judge hasn’t immediately ruled on Conroy’s request to hold Trump in contempt and levy “appropriate sanctions.”
Donald Trump’s motorcade arrived at the courthouse in lower Manhattan as his criminal hush money trial readied to resume Thursday.
After a morning campaign event in midtown, the former president returned to Trump Tower, then left again in the motorcade.
Addressing reporters in the hallway before court resumed, Trump began by speaking not about the trial, but instead the economy, griping about gas prices and the latest economic numbers.
He again addressed the Supreme Court, which is hearing oral arguments Thursday on whether he’s immune from prosecution in a case charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“I would have loved to have been there,” Trump said.
Donald Trump, visiting construction workers for a campaign stop Thursday before heading to court in his criminal hush money case, was dismissive when asked about prosecutors' push for the judge to hold him in contempt of violating a gag order because of his social media posts.
“Oh, I have no idea,” Trump said when asked whether he would pay the $1,000 fine for each of 10 posts. He then said, “They’ve taken my constitutional right away with a gag order.”
Donald Trump is accused of falsifying internal Trump Organization records as part of a scheme to bury damaging stories that he feared could hurt his 2016 campaign, particularly as Trump’s reputation was suffering at the time from comments he had made about women.
The allegations focus on payoffs to two women, porn actor Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said they had extramarital sexual encounters with Trump years earlier, as well as to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child he alleged Trump had out of wedlock. Trump says none of these supposed sexual encounters occurred.
Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000 and arranged for the publisher of the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid to pay McDougal $150,000 in a journalistically dubious practice known as “catch-and-kill” in which a publication pays for exclusive rights to someone’s story with no intention of publishing it, either as a favor to a celebrity subject or to gain leverage over the person.
Prosecutors say Trump’s company reimbursed Cohen and paid him bonuses and extra payments, all of which were falsely logged in Trump Organization records as legal expenses. Cohen has separately pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance law in connection with the payments.
Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records — a charge punishable by up to four years in prison — though it’s not clear if the judge would seek to put him behind bars.
A conviction would not preclude Trump from becoming president again, but because it is a state case, he would not be able to pardon himself if found guilty. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Former President Donald Trump returns from a break at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump, left, watches as David Pecker answers questions on the witness stand, far right, from assistant district attorney Joshua Steingless, in Manhattan criminal court, April 23, 2024, in New York. Testimony by the former National Enquirer publisher at Donald Trump's hush money trial this week has revealed an astonishing level of corruption at America's best-known tabloid and may one day be seen as the moment it effectively died. On Thursday, April 25, 2024 Pecker was back on the witness stand to tell more about the arrangement he made to boost Trump's presidential candidacy in 2016, tear down his rivals and silence any revelations that may have damaged him. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Former President Donald Trump returns from a break at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump returns from a break at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump speaks with construction workers at the construction site of the new JPMorgan Chase headquarters in midtown Manhattan, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in New York. Trump met with construction workers and union representatives hours before he's set to appear in court. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former President Donald Trump speaks with union representatives at the construction site of the new JPMorgan Chase headquarters in midtown Manhattan, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in New York. Trump met with construction workers and union representatives hours before he's set to appear in court. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former President Donald Trump leaves Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in New York. (Curtis Means/DailyMail.com via AP, Pool)
Judge Juan Merchan presides over Donald Trump's trial in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table while David Pecker, shown on the video screen, testifies about Karen McDougal in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Former President Donald Trump leaves courtroom at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)
