The prosecutors called Daniels to the stand, using her stage name instead of her birth name, Stephanie Clifford, according to ABC News.
Without looking at Trump, the adult film star entered the courtroom wearing all black.
Daniels said she is testifying pursuant to a subpoena. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is leading the questions.
Following probes from prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, Daniels discussed her life growing up in Louisiana.
Daniels reportedly worked in clubs as an exotic dancer while in high school to make money. She said she could "make more money in one weekend than she would "shoveling manure eight hours a day."'
Daniels then went on to describe posing nude in magazines when she was 21 so she could elevate her dancing career.
According to Daniels, "If you [were] a Playboy centerfold, you were the headliner."
At 23, Daniels began starring in her first adult films. According to the porn star, she was a background actor in a film when a producer from Wicked Films approached her. Within days she had her first contract.
Daniels claims that she was, "[Honestly] kind of scared to do it." Since then, she has produced over 150 films, including awards.
Among her illustrious resume, Daniels was featured in Maroon 5 videos, and both "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up".
Daniels recalls the celebrity Lake Tahoe Golf Tournament in 2006, where she allegedly met Donald J. Trump.
"It was a very brief encounter on the course." She was 27-years old at the time.
Daniels testified that at that meeting, Trump's body guard came to her with a proposal: "That Mr. Trump was interested in having me joining him for dinner."
Candidly, Daniels says she responded, "F--- no."
Evidence details that Trump's bodyguard was listed as "Keith Trump" in Stormy's phone. Her reasoning for the name was due to the fact that she did not know the bodyguard's last name at the time.
According to Daniels, her then-publicist said of the potential dinner with Trump, "If nothing else you'll get a great story."
Daniels claims she went to Trump's Harrah's resort to meet with him and went directly to his suite per the instructions of bodyguard Keith Schiller.
The adult film star claimed that Trump was wearing silk pajamas and that she requested him to change. Daniels claimed that his hotel room was, "Three times the size of [her] apartment."
Trump allegedly asked if the two of them could talk before going to dinner to get to know eachother.
Daniels said that once Trump changed his clothes, they passed the time before their planned dinner by talking at a table in the suite.
The conversation purportedly included discussing whether she was married or had a boyfriend.
Based on the story that Daniels alleges, she claims that their conversation shifted to the business aspects of the adult film industry.
She claims that Trump asked, "Are there any unions?" And how she got paid. The adult film star also claims that Trump asked her about health insurance and STDs.
According to Daniels, she alleges that the two of them had a brief conversation about Melania.
"He showed me a few pictures ... and I said, 'What about your wife?'"
Stormy Daniels claims that his response was, "Oh don't worry about that, we don't sleep in the same room."
As the testimony continues, Daniels says that Trump brought up the idea of an appearance on "The Apprentice."
Daniels alleges that she did not believe they would let her go on the show. She suggests that Trump quipped, "You remind me of my daughter."
Court broke for a recess.
Upon the court's return from recess, Judge Juan Merchan said, "The degree of detail is just unnecessary."
After admitted to rummaging through Trump's bag while he was not in front of her, Daniels claims that she went to the bathroom, and when she came out "he was on the bed."
Daniels is purporting that Trump was "on the bed in boxers and a T-shirt" and insisting that she was "scared" and "blacked out," claiming that she was not on drugs or drinking.
President Trump motioned for attorney Susan Necheles to object as Daniels began to describe alleged intimate details. Merchan summoned both parties to the bench and then said the objection is sustained.
Vulgar and without a shred of class, the porn star from Louisiana, Stormy Daniels, alleges how she and Trump "began having sex."
President Trump tapped attorney Susan Necheles again to object. Necheles then raised an objection about purported details of sex. Merchan sustained.
In a story that most would not want to listen to, Daniels claims. "The next thing I knew I was on the bed and my clothes were off."
The prosecutor is looking for an edge to spin Daniels' testimony in any way that he can.
Hoddinger asks, "Do you remember how your clothes got off?"
"No," Daniels responded. *Note: Daniels also claims she was not on drugs or drinking. A logical individual would question how she would not remember certain events but then remember other events explicitly.
In absolute grotesque unnecessary purported detail that no one with self-respect would discuss, Daniels is trying to claim that he did not wear a condom.
Adding to a feminist edge, Daniels is arguing that there was an "there was an imbalance of power," but that she was not threatened physically.
Daniels claims that she saw Trump the next day at an event associated with the celebrity golf tournament, insisting she saw him sitting with Steelers-famous football player Ben Roethlisberger. She claims she tried on Ben's Super Bowl ring. Adds that Trump was not drinking.
In more commentary that exhibits her beneath-the-floor level of class, Daniels said that she told "scores of people'' about Trump's invite to his suite.
Daniels continues with her testimony, claiming that after the Lake Tahoe encounter, she and Trump "kept in touch." Daniels claims that his nickname for her was "honey bunch."
According to the story that Daniels purports, she only continued to take Trump's calls "on the advice of her publicist" with the idea in mind that there was potential to appear on The Apprentice. *Note the air of opportunism.
In another sign of disrespect and low level of class, Daniels claims that she would always put Trump's calls on speaker because she "thought it was funny." In words that are mindblowing to digest in regard to privacy and common sense, Daniels claims that "dozens and dozens of people" heard their alleged phone calls.
Evidence is presented to the jurors of a contact in the porn star's phone labeled "D Trump Rhona," which stood for Trump's longtime executive assistant Rhona Graff.
According to Daniels, Graff was the "in" to getting in contact with Trump.
Graff testified less than two weeks ago about entering a contact for Daniels in the Trump Organization's system.
Jurors were then again presented with the Trump Organization contact card for Daniels, confirming the phone number was hers.
Daniels continues with her testimony, claiming she saw Trump again at a Trump Vodka launch party in January 2007.
As if instructed by crafty coaches, Daniels describes how she encountered one of "Trump's friends," Karen McDougal, who also made allegations about an affair. Conveniently, Daniels story lines up with McDougal's alleged affair story that the National Enquirer put to bed before the 2016 election.
Daniels claims in her alleged story that Trump did not worry about anyone seeing her at Trump Tower and that "He introduced [her] to everyone."
Porn star Stormy Daniels continues her purported story, insisting that Trump made sexual advances toward her during a meeting in Hollywood, California.
The prosecutor asks her if she kept it confidential, to which she responded, "Absolutely not."
Continuing the allegations that would only suggest a desire to hurt both the President himself and his family, Daniels claims that he did not seem concerned about getting caught or his wife finding out.
In 2011, Daniels had an interview with InTouch Magazine about her alleged encounters with Trump. Playing into the psychology of a "damsel in distress" and "I am a mom" scenario, the adult film star says during that year, she was approached by a man who threatened her outside of a Mommy-and-Me class in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Despite claiming to be threatened, Daniels says she did not report the incident to the police "due to being scared."
However, the purported incident, according to Daniels, made her want to take down a blog post she had made that year regarding the alleged encounter with Donald J. Trump.
Earlier in the trial, then-attorney Keith Davidson testified before the jury that he had sent a cease-and-desist letter to get the post removed.
Catering to the "Me Too" crowd and biased New York jury, Daniels testified that she gave her agent Gina Rodriguez permission in 2016 to "shop around her story," not for money, but to "get the story out" out of fear.
The prosecutor asks Daniels why she didn't want Cohen's $130,000 offer.
Her response: "Because I didn't care about the money."
Following the lunch recess, President Trump's defense team has moved for a mistrial over Stormy Daniels' testimony.
Blanche argued, "The guardrails by this witness answering questions by the government were just thrown to the side."
Prosecutor Hoffinger claims Daniels' account is "highly probative" of Trump's intent, and insists that it's "not true" that Daniels is telling a new story.
Blanche's rebuttal: "The reason why this evidence, in theory, is admissible, over our objection," is that there were facts presented to Davidson and Cohen spurring the non-disclosure agreement (NDA). "The problem is, that isn't what came in. What came in is this extraordinarily prejudicial testimony."
Merchan says a mistrial is unwarranted. Merchan says he is surprised there were not "more objections" from the defense.
According to Adam Klasfeld, Trump's attorney Susan Necheles says they objected to Stormy's testimony to begin with, and Merchan rejected their request. Merchan claims that's not accurate, saying he granted some aspects of their objection and rejected others.
Trump's attorney, Blanche, argues that the porn star's testimony was a harmful distraction.
"I don't think anybody can listen to what that witness said and think it had anything to do with the charged conduct. You run a very high risk of the jury not being able to focus on the evidence that really does matter."
Judge Merchan, in his claim that a mistrial in not warranted, said, "The more times a story has been changed," [the more fodder the defense has for cross-examination].
However, Merchan agreed that some things were better left unsaid, suggesting that, "The witness was a little difficult to control."
Merchan tells Hoffinger to remind Daniels to "stay focused" and not to provide "unnecessary narrative."
The porn star is back on the stand.
Let's get into the weeds. The afternoon session begins with an email from Daniels' then-attorney Keith Davidson to Trump's then-attorney Michael Cohen, dated Oct. 17, 2015.
In the email, Davidson says that Stormy Daniels hasn't received payment on the settlement. "My client informs me that she intends to cancel the settlement if no funds are received by 5PM PST today."
According to Adam Klasfeld, Daniels confirms that she initialed the "Peggy Peterson" line with her own initials: "SD."
Daniels confirms she signed her legal name Stephanie Clifford in the full signature line.
Per Daniels' testimony, says claims she was paid out $96,000 of the $136,000 wired by Cohen after fees. Despite admitting to telling everyone about her alleged affair earlier in the trial, the porn star insists that she did not respond to WSJ reporters' request for comment, following the publication of the story about Karen McDougal. Earlier on in her testimony today, Daniels says that she met McDougal at the Trump Vodka launch party.
As to why she did not respond to the Wall Street Journal, Daniels says she was "respecting the terms of the non-disclosure agreement."
Financially and professionally, the adult film star says that 2017 was "probably [her] best year ever."
The statement that Daniels made writing that there was no affair and wherein she denied receiving hush money, is brought into question.
Daniels says his attorney Keith Davidson had her sign this statement.
The prosecution asks, "Would you say it was cleverly misleading?"
Daniels replies, "Yes."
"Objection."
"Sustained."
Despite Daniels claiming that she did not respond to the WSJ, the paper broke the story on Jan. 12, 2018, the WSJ broke the story on the $130,000 hush-money deal.
Daniels claims she did not want to go on Sean Hannity's Fox show even though she was allegedly asked to.
The porn star claims that her official signed statement on January 30, 2018 denying the affair with President Trump was false.
In a story that could have been written into a Netflix show about movie cam women's rights against the supposed patriarchy that they themselves profit from, Daniels goes on to describe Michael Cohen's filing of a temporary restraining order against her in February 2008. Daniels says after hiring Michael Avenatti, she sued to get out of the NDA, "So she could stand up for [herself]."
Daniels briefly talks about her book "Full Disclosure".
Sustained objections regarding Daniels' testimony. They are now discussing a sketch that her then-attorney Michael Avenatti tweeted that was allegedly of the man who approached Daniels in the parking lot in Las Vegas. Apparently, according to Daniels, Avenatti posted the sketch without her knowledge or consent.
The prosecution asked Daniels about her 2018 lawsuit against Trump for defamation.
Per ABC News, "Trump had called Daniels' allegations of being threatened in Las Vegas a "con job." A court later dismissed the case and ordered Daniels to pay Trump's legal fees.
According to Daniels, her attorney at the time, Michael Avenatti, filed the lawsuit against her will.
Daniels later fired Avenatti, who was disbarred and imprisoned for stealing from clients."
An interesting fact and ironic given the nature of this sham hush money case, Daniels testified that she STILL owes Trump for the legal fees in that defamation case.
The woman who said she was not concerned about money explains why she has not paid Trump yet: "Because I don't have the means to pay that kind of funds and because I didn't think it was fair."
The porn star claims that the outcome of this criminal case will have no outcome on her outstanding fees.
Even more laughable and an important note in the case, Stormy Daniels testified that she sold the license rights of her purported affair story to Peacock, which released a documentary about her earlier this year, for $125,000. Of that amount, Daniels said she has received $100,000.
Straight out of a script from central casting, one of President Trump's truths are now being presented, wherein he said he did "NOTHING wrong" in the "Horseface" case.
The porn star claims the line in the post about Trump not seeing her for 18 years is false because they had seen each other a number of times since then.
The defense is about to get it in.
In a moment that evokes Jack Nicholson's quip, "You can't handle the truth!" Trump's attorney says, "The prosecution subjected you to several grueling prep sessions, which included brutal mock cross examinations?"
One might think to themselves, "You're hiding Joe Biden's earbuds and basement teams in the floors, aren't you, Stormy?"
Daniels claims her testimony was not rehearsed, but that she hates President Trump and "wants him to be held responsible."
Like a living MAGA meme, Necheles is not having any of it. She calls Daniels' decision not to pay Trump her owed fees for the defamation case what it is:
"You're choosing not to pay President Trump one penny. You've chosen to disobey a court order."
An ode to why Trump hired Necheles in the first place, the attorney reads a tweet from Daniels where the porn star stated. "she would go to jail before paying Trump the money a court determined she owed."
A superb exhibition of the absolute bias and loathing against Trump stemming from the plaintiff, Necheles shows Daniels' tweet where she wrote, "I don't owe him sh** and I'll never give that orange turd a dime."
Daniels defends her tweet that it was a reaction to Trump's nicknames used against her.
The banter recalls a kindergartner complaining about being tattled on.
Despite earlier in this trial, the porn star saying that she didn't care about money regarding why she shopped this alleged affair story around in 2016, Daniels now admits to Necheles that she "has been making money telling [her] story about what happened [to her]."
An ironic portion of the afternoon, Daniels claims, per Necheles line of questioning, that she declined a request from her manager Gina Rodriguez to work with famous attorney Gloria Allred, because Gloria wanted her to say things that "were not true."
Necheles calls Daniels' bluff on the story about being approached in the Mommy-And-Me parking lot in Las Vegas by an alleged intimidator to silence Daniels.
Necheles addresses the fact that Daniels says she never told anyone about the incident in the exercise class nor called the police.
Daniels says she told the woman in the studio that her baby had a blowout on her diaper and that's why [Daniels] was crying in the restroom.
The defense is sharp: "Your daughter's life was in jeopardy [but] you didn't tell her father?"
Daniels: "Right."
In 2018, when Stormy Daniels interviewed with Anderson Cooper, she claimed that she never told alleged affair and hush money story publicly due to fear.
The defense says that Daniels blamed the incident on Michael Cohen.
Changing her story from a parking lot to a garage, Daniels responds, "No, I blamed it on a man in a garage."
*Comedic editor's note: Little does Daniels know, the real "Guy in the Garage" was not in Las Vegas.
Daniels goes on to blame her former attorney, Michael Avenatti, for posting the tweet of the supposed sketch of the man who allegedly approached her in the parking lot without her permission.
However, Necheles pings back that the porn star was sitting next to Avenatti on set of The View when he revealed it.
After the afternoon recess, the defense brought up the notion that Trump was the victim of extortion.
"You were looking to extort money from President Trump, right?"
"False.”
"That's what you did, right?"
Daniels still said, “False."
Ironically, Daniels made remarks about "fairness.” She said, “You want me to comment on something when I don't know the context, and that is not fair.”
The defense also called the purported encounter with the man in the parking lot a “supposed incident” to which Daniels countered, “It was a true incident.”
At one point, the defense pulls a piece of evidence—a text exchange between her manager Gina Rodriguez and The National Enquirer’s Dylan Howard wherein Rodriguez said, “She will tell the story through a source.”
Rodriguez said, “[Stormy] has had sex with him. She wants $100K.”
Daniels denies that she wanted the story to be written from an anonymous perspective.
Cross-examination is slated to resume at 9:30 AM ET on Thursday.
Last updated at 4:57 PM ET.
