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 on May 7.
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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 on May 7.
Elizabeth Williams/AP
NEW YORK — Adult film actor Stormy Daniels took the stand for a second day in the criminal trial against Donald Trump on Thursday morning, sparring with his lawyer over her motives for signing the settlement and nondisclosure agreement at the center of the trial.
Trump lawyer Susan Necheles’ cross examination turned heated over questions aimed at discrediting Daniels.
For example, Necheles pressed Daniels on her role as an adult film director and screenwriter: “So you have a lot of experience making phony stories about sex appear real?”
“The sex is real,” Daniels fired back. “That’s why it’s pornography.”
Necheles’ line of questioning covered Daniels’ strip club tour and interview series, her belief in paranormal activity and her experience directing films about sex. Necheles asked Daniels about her strip club tour — called “Make America Horny Again,” a play on Trump’s familiar campaign slogan — questioning whether Daniels has profited from her allegations and connection to Trump.
Daniels said it was named despite her wishes and that how clubs were promoted was out of her hands.
And she also asked questions aimed at discrediting her sanity, including whether she believed an old house she lived in was haunted. Daniels said a house she lived in in New Orleans had “unexplained activity,” a lot was debunked as caused by a possum living under the house.
The series of questions prompted laughter from the dozens of members of the public in the overflow room who had lined up early outside the courthouse to watch the testimony.
During the heated moments, Trump has been whispering to his lawyers, leaning over the defense table and watching the testimony, while jurors have been looking back and forth from Daniels to Necheles, some taking notes.
Her testimony followed a graphic day on the stand on Tuesday where she detailed an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump in a hotel suite as well as their contact between 2006 and 2008. Trump has denied the affair.
Necheles’ questioning eventually pivoted back to the night in the hotel in 2006. Daniels testified that she was invited to dinner with Trump but didn’t eat. If she had, she said, she would have talked about the food.
“I am very food motivated,” Daniels quipped.
Necheles pushed on details about whether or not there was food that night, and whether or not Daniels was uncomfortable with Trump being in his underwear — aimed at finding inconsistencies with her recollection.
Daniels testified that some inconsistencies between her testimony and published work can be credited to the inability of the authors to fact check and her lack of editorial control on journalists, which resulted in leaving some details out.
Necheles pushed many times for Daniels to admit that she changed her story about the alleged sexual encounter, arguing that it was fabricated. That prompted denials from Daniels and objections that were sustained by prosecutors.
Thursday’s questioning wrapped up with prosecutors questioning Daniels on if she has benefited from telling her story and combing through various engagements on X, the social media platform formally known as Twitter. Necheles aimed to show that Daniels has celebrated Trump’s legal troubles while defending herself against attacks on social media.
Daniels testified that on balance, telling her story yielded negative publicity, noting she has had to move and hire personal security.
Stormy Daniels’ testimony is at the central of the charges
Daniels, also known as Stephanie Clifford, is one of two women the prosecution is alleging Trump paid off to protect his electoral prospects the first time he ran for the White House.
The former president faces 34 felony counts alleging that he falsified New York business records to conceal damaging information to influence the 2016 presidential election. Trump, who pleaded not guilty, claims the trial itself is “election interference” because of how it is disrupting his 2024 bid for president. He must be present in court every day and thus, isn’t able to campaign when he is.
Stormy Daniels arrives at Manhattan criminal court on May 9 in New York City.
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Stormy Daniels arrives at Manhattan criminal court on May 9 in New York City.
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Prosecutors argued the details Daniels gave so far in testimony were aimed at establishing her credibility and also help explain what exactly Trump wanted to silence with a nondisclosure agreement and $130,000 settlement from his then-lawyer Michael Cohen. The defense didn’t want her to talk at all about sex, arguing this is a case about books and records and called for a mistrial, a move the judge denied. On Tuesday Judge Juan Merchan told prosecutors to instruct her not to give unnecessary details and be more succinct in her answers.
The former president sat in the courtroom for her testimony, as he is required to by New York criminal law, and has been accompanied by one of his sons, Eric Trump, though he was not present at the start of testimony on Thursday. Florida Sen. Rick Scott did join the former president in listening to testimony in the courtroom.
Daniels’ time on the witness stand — which clocked in at more than five hours — wrapped up early Thursday afternoon.
Andrea Bernstein contributed to this report.
