Donald Trump is engaged with the testimony, watching Stormy Daniels on the screen in front of him.
Stormy Daniels testifies in Trump's hush money trial
From CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren Del Valle and Jeremy Herb in the courthouse
Updated 7:29 p.m. ET, May 7, 2024
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Trump watches Daniels' testimony on screen in front of him
Daniels is looking at the jury and using her hands expressively
Stormy Daniels often looks over at the jury as she testifies describing the hotel room in detail.
Daniels is using her hands expressively as she outlines the setting and where things were in the hotel room.
Daniels has a very conversational and casual tone, but she is speaking very quickly. The prosecution has asked her to slow down at least four times so the court reporter can keep up.
Daniels says Trump was wearing "satin pajamas" when they met at hotel suite
Stormy Daniels said she called Donald Trump's name as she arrived at the hotel suite.
"I called his name. I said, 'hello' and he came from one of the main areas of the hotel suite," she testified.
Trump was wearing satin pajamas, she said, adding that she immediately made fun of him. "Does Mr. Hefner know you stole his pajamas?" Daniels said, confirming that she was referring to Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner.
She told Trump to change, Daniels said. He returned wearing a dress shirt and dress pants.
Daniels said the foyer of the penthouse suite had black-and-while tile and a "big, beautiful wooden table" in the middle of it. She said there were flowers on the table.
Daniels: "I didn’t really have any expectations" going into dinner
Stormy Daniels, describing her dinner with Trump, says the hotel room door was cracked open when she got there. She says she walked right in. Keith Schiller, Trump's bodyguard, told her Trump was waiting for her, she says.
"I didn’t really have any expectations," Daniels says, noting that Schiller told her they'd meet at the hotel and that they could go then downstairs, as there were a lot of restaurants in the area.
"That was my only expectation," she says.
Daniels again asked to slow down while testifying
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger again once again asks Stormy Daniels to slow down for the court reporter. She continues to talk quickly as she recounts her story.
Daniels describes being invited to go to dinner with Trump
Stormy Daniels says she was trying to get out of a dinner with everyone from her company and that was the reason her publicist encouraged her to go to dinner with Trump instead.
"So I arrived and I went upstairs. Keith (Schiller) had given me very specific instructions to take a certain elevator to the penthouse floor. So I did so and I went up to that level. That’s where I met Keith, who was waiting for me outside the door," Daniels testifies.
Trump's bodyguard gave Daniels his contact information, she says
Daniels says after she declined Trump's dinner invitation, his bodyguard Keith Schiller took her cell phone number and then messaged her.
The jury is seeing a photo of Schiller's contact entry in her phone. He's saved as "Keith Trump."
Daniels says the contact was "Keith Trump" because she didn't know Schiller's last name at the time and he worked for Trump. "I do that a lot" to help identify contacts, she says.
She said she had another dinner, but her publicist encouraged her to go to dinner with Trump.
"What could possibly go wrong," Daniels recounts her publicist telling her, giggling as she spoke on the stand.
What Stormy Daniels has said as of 11 a.m. ET
From CNN Staff
Stephanie Clifford – better known as Stormy Daniels — has taken the stand in former president Donald Trump’s hush money trial.
Here’s what to know about her testimony so far:
- Why is she in court?: Speaking quickly, Daniels said she was testifying because she was subpoenaed. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked her to slow down as she spoke, although CNN reporters in court said she appeared relaxed on the stand – leaning into the chair’s arm and laughing casually as she recounted her work experience.
Jurors took notes during her testimony – but were not reacting to her laughs and sometimes blunt testimony.
- Her name: Daniels said she prefers being called Stormy Daniels, instead of Stephanie Clifford.
- How she started her career: While testifying, Daniels was asked how she got into her career. She said her friend told her she was a dancer, which she thought meant “ballet, jazz and tap. I was wrong, she was an exotic dancer.”
- Daniels said she figured out that through dancing, she could make more in two nights “than I could shoveling manure eight hours a day.” Daniels continued, noting that she started nude modeling at 21 and then realized she wanted to be a traveling entertainer. She confirmed that she also worked in the adult film industry – saying she won 11 best director awards and two best screenplays.
- Media and books: Daniels said she’s written a book called “Full Disclosure,” which she is in the process of finishing. She speaks about movies and music videos she has been in, including “40 Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up” as well as music videos. Daniels reveals she has a podcast – and discussed Trump on it.
- Meeting Donald Trump: Daniels was questioned about meeting Donald Trump at the Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament. “It was a very brief encounter,” she said. At the time, she was 27 years old and still working for an adult film picture company. Trump was “as old or older than my father” she said, adding that her father was 60.
- Daniels said he later approached her at the golf shop, and said he remembered her, telling her "that I was the smart one."
Daniels is referring to Trump as "Mr. Trump"
When Stormy Daniels speaks of Trump, she is calling him "Mr. Trump."
The jury is seeing a photo of Trump standing with his golf club wearing the same yellow shirt and red hat.
"It is a photo of Mr. Trump on the golf course," Daniels says of the photo.