Stormy Daniels takes the stand to testify at Trump trial today

Daniels began her testimony by recounting her early life in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Born Stephanie Clifford, she said her parents split up when she was 4 years old and she was mostly raised by her mom. She said the family had a “very, very low income.”

In high school, she danced ballet and had an affinity for horses. She said she taught riding lessons and worked at a stable in exchange for boarding her horse. At 17, she moved out and soon began exotic dancing. 

“I could make more in two nights than I did shoveling manure eight hours a day,” Daniels testified.

She said she started nude modeling at 21. She explained that clubs would bring in “guest stars,” and they needed “credentials or credits” to be invited. She said that meant posing for magazines.

Daniels’ introduction to adult films began the same way, she testified. At 23, she said she was an extra at a friend’s shoot when the director saw her and “thought I was already an adult actress.” Her friend told her that doing just one shoot would bump her “pay grade.”

About six months later, she began writing and directing adult films. “I was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, adult feature directors,” she said.

Prosecutors called Daniels to the stand to testify after both sides finished questioning Franklin, the publishing executive.

“The people call Stormy Daniels,” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said, as the jurors all seemed to shift in their seats.

Franklin has read a series of excerpts from Trump’s “How to Get Rich” and “Think Like a Billionaire,” which were co-authored by Meredith McIver, a Trump Organization staffer.

Some include references to his time on NBC’s “The Apprentice”: “All the women on ‘The Apprentice’ flirted with me — consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected. A sexual dynamic is always present between people, unless you are asexual.”

The excerpts also included passages about his “penny-pinching.”

“When you’re working with a decorator, make sure to see all the invoices. Decorators are by nature honest people, but you should be checking regardless,” one said.

The excerpts also demonstrated Trump’s reliance on Trump Organization executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney. The one about McConney included an anecdote about Trump falsely telling McConney he was fired years ago — a story that McConney called “a teaching moment” when he recounted it on the stand Monday.

Susan Necheles, an attorney for Trump, said in court that the defense team was informed that Daniels will be the second witness called to the stand Tuesday. She reiterated the defense’s objection to any testimony about sexual acts.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger countered that “the details of her story are important” while saying the prosecution will not ask about “certain details that might be too salacious.” She said Daniels would be asked to testify about “how she ended up engaging in a sexual act.”

“It’s not going to include any details about genitalia or anything of that nature,” Hoffinger said.

Judge Juan Merchan acknowledged Necheles’ point that Daniels has “credibility issues,” but said prosecutors “need to elicit certain details that led to the sexual encounter.”

Trump arrived at the courtroom wearing a marigold tie and dark suit just before 9:30 a.m. He ignored shouted questions and read a series of comments about the trial from TV commentators. 

The former president defended the payments to Cohen, saying they were for legal expenses: “We didn’t put it down as construction costs, the purchase of sheet rock, the electrical cost. The legal expense that we paid was put down as ‘legal expense.’ There’s nothing else you can say.”

“It’s a very, very unfair trial. The good news is they have nothing,” Trump said before entering the courtroom.