This browser does not support the Video element.
Judge denies mistrial motion over Stormy Daniels testimony
Former President Trump’s defense attorneys are moving for a mistrial amid the testimony of pornographic actress Stormy Daniels. Defense attorney Todd Blanche, after the court's lunch break, told Judge Juan Merchan that Daniels' testimony Tuesday morning was prejudicial. Merchan said a mistrial was not warranted and stated that he was doing everything he could to control the witness, including once objecting to Daniel's testimony himself.
NEW YORK - Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday and recounted for jurors the lead-up to meeting Donald Trump and a 2006 sexual encounter she said the two engaged in. The former president denies the encounter took place.
The alleged sexual encounter and the $130,000 she was paid to keep silent about it during the 2016 presidential election are at the heart of the charges against the former president.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was called to the witness stand by mid-morning, following testimony from a Penguin Random House executive.
FILE-Side-by-side photo of Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images) (Trump photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Judge Juan M. Merchan on Monday found Trump in contempt of court for a second time, fining him $1,000 for a single violation and sternly warning Trump that jail time would be considered for future violations "if necessary and appropriate."
This browser does not support the Video element.
Hush money trial: Trump Organization employees testify
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told Judge Juan M. Merchan that the prosecution’s case is proceeding ahead of schedule and he estimates being finished calling witnesses two weeks from Tuesday. Once the prosecution is done, Trump’s lawyers can then call their own witnesses.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the city's jail system will be ready to house the former president if necessary.
Tuesday's testimony digs further into the events and people involved in what prosecutors have said was a scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election by buying and burying negative stories about the then-candidate.
Follow along for live updates:
4:50 p.m. ET: Court ends for the day
Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand on Thursday.
4:30 p.m. ET: A push for a mistrial, rejected
Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to declare a mistrial, arguing that the details in Daniels’ testimony about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump and other meetings with him have "nothing to do with this case" and were "extremely prejudicial" against Trump, the Associated Press.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche called it "the kind of testimony that makes it impossible to come back from," and hurts the former president as he tries to campaign for the White House. But prosecutors contended that Daniels’ testimony was vital for establishing why Trump wanted to pay to silence her.
Merchan rejected the mistrial request, saying Daniels provided excessive detail in some instances but that defense attorneys should have raised more objections at the time.
Though the trial continues, the argument by Trump’s lawyers could be something he uses in an appeal if he is ultimately convicted.
4:15 p.m. ET: Stormy Daniels forcefully denied trying to ‘extort’ Trump
"You were looking to extort money from President Trump," defense lawyer Susan Necheles said.
"False," Stormy Daniels responded.
"Well, that’s what you did," the lawyer said.
"False," Daniels answered.
Necheles was questioning why Daniels decided to sell her story when, as she testified, a stranger had threatened her to keep quiet in 2011 after a gossip site reported that she’d had a sexual encounter with Trump.
"I was a very different and much braver person in 2016 than I was in 2011. And Donald Trump was not just a guy on television, he was running for president," Daniels testified.
4:00 p.m. ET: Trump’s attorney suggests Stormy Daniels sought to profit off her claims
Two main themes emerged early in defense attorney Susan Necheles’ cross-examination questioning: portraying Stormy Daniels as something of a gold digger who’s profited off of claims of sex with Trump and as someone whose story has shifted over the years, the Associated Press reported.
Asked if she’s "been making money by claiming you had sex with Donald Trump," Daniels hesitated and then acknowledged she made money on her book, "Full Disclosure," but said she hasn’t been paid for interviews.
"I have been making money by telling my story about what happened to me," Daniels testified.
Necheles also pushed Daniels on a conversation she had in 2011 with Gloria Allred, the well-known attorney who’s represented many women with high-profile sexual harassment claims.
As recounted in Daniels’ book, she did not initially tell Allred that she’d had sex with Trump, according to Necheles. The back-and-forth grew increasingly tense as Daniels suggested that she did not trust Allred at the time and felt she was being pushed to exaggerate her claims against Trump.
"You’re making this up as you sit there, right?" Necheles says of Daniels’ testimony — a claim that Daniels emphatically denied.
Necheles then suggested Daniels left the conversation with Allred with the takeaway: "If you want to make money off President Trump, you better talk about sex."
"No, although that does seem to be the case," Daniels responds.
3:30 p.m. ET: ‘Am I correct that you hate President Trump?’ Trump attorney asked Daniels
Trump defense attorney Susan Necheles asked Stormy Daniels. "Yes," the witness acknowledged.
"And you want him to go to jail?"
"I want him to be held accountable," Daniels said. Asked again whether that meant going to jail, she said: "If he’s convicted."
3:20 p.m. ET: Stormy Daniels to Michael Avenatti: You’re fired
Stormy Daniels replied with a drawn-out "no" in response to whether she is still represented by Avenatti. Asked why not, she offered a one-sentence summary of the notorious attorney’s fall: "Because I fired him, and later he was found guilty of not just stealing from myself but several other clients and was disbarred and is in prison," she said, capping off the response with a slight shrug, the Associated Press reported.
In 2022, Avenatti was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing Daniels’ book proceeds.
Daniels said she never wanted Avenatti to file the defamation suit against Trump that ended with a dismissal and her owing Trump nearly $293,000 for his attorneys’ fees and another $1,000 in sanctions.
"It just seemed really risky, and it didn’t seem like it was something that could be won. It seemed like a bad choice. Not worth it, I guess," she testified.
3:10 p.m. ET: Stormy Daniels sought to get out of her nondisclosure agreement to ‘stand up’ for herself
Stormy Daniels hired Michael Avenatti in 2018, who sued Trump and prevailed in getting the nondisclosure agreement nullified. Trump was ordered to pay Daniels about $100,000 in legal fees.
Daniels went on to give an interview to Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes" and wrote a book, "Full Disclosure," about her life, career and her alleged encounter with Trump.
In questioning Daniels about her book, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger appeared to be seeking to answer the defense’s claims that her story had shifted over time. The book included some descriptions of what she said happened with Trump, but "not every detail, no," Daniels said.
Jurors are following along keenly as Daniels’ testimony continues, with several appearing to take notes.
2:55 p.m. ET: After The Wall Street Journal published a story about her payoff, Stormy Daniels’ life became ‘chaos’
Stormy Daniels testified that she was steadfast in abiding by her nondisclosure agreement with Cohen. She declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal for a story published on Nov. 4, 2016, that reported she had been in discussions to tell her story on "Good Morning America" but that nothing had come of it, the Associated Press noted. Daniels also declined when the newspaper asked her for comment before it broke the news of her hush money arrangement in 2018.
"I was under the NDA. I was respecting that, and I didn’t want to comment," Daniels testified. Daniels said she also had reservations about a statement released on her behalf around that time that denied an encounter with Trump "because it’s not true and I was told that saying anything at all — anything — was a violation of the NDA."
2:30 p.m. ET: Stormy Daniels discusses her payment from Trump fixer Michael Cohen
Stormy Daniels testified that after the deadline for the $130,000 payment from Cohen came and went, she authorized her then-lawyer, Keith Davidson, to cancel the deal. He did, by email, according to documents shown in court. But about two weeks later, the deal was revived, the Associated Press reported.
After her lawyer and agent got their cuts, Daniels said she ended up with about $96,000 of the $130,000 payment.
2:06 p.m. ET: Judge Juan M. Merchan rejects the mistrial request
"I don’t believe we’re at the point where a mistrial is warranted," Judge Merchan said.
The judge said he agreed with Blanche that Daniels said more at times than she should’ve, but he blamed the defense for not objecting more vigorously when she was testifying, the Associated Press reported.
"I agree there are some things that would’ve been better left unsaid," Merchan said, noting the "witness was a little difficult to control."
Merchan said there were guardrails in place and that he sustained most of the defense’s objections — but that there should have been more.
At one point, Merchan noted, he objected on his own — rather than waiting for a defense objection — to stop Daniels from giving more detail than she should have.
2:05 p.m. ET: Trump’s lawyers ask for a mistrial following morning testimony from Stormy Daniels
Following the lunch break, Trump’s lawyers are saying that Daniels ran afoul of rules established for her taking the witness stand. This is the first time the Trump team has asked for a mistrial.
Defense lawyer Todd Blanche said Daniels’ testimony about the alleged sexual encounter with Trump and her detailed account of a preceding conversation and other meetings with Trump had "nothing to do with this case and is extremely prejudicial."
Blanche argued "the court set guardrails for this testimony" but it was "just thrown to the side."
"This is the kind of testimony that makes it impossible to come back from," he said, adding that it is also "unfair" as Trump has to go out on the campaign trail later today.
A post published to Trump’s Truth Social account just before court resumed read: "THE PROSECUTION, WHICH HAS NO CASE, HAS GONE TOO FAR. MISTRIAL!"
2:00 p.m. ET: No news outlets were interested in her story until the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape, said Stormy Daniels
Stormy Daniels said she was in the best financial shape of her life, directing 10 films a year, when she authorized her manager Gina Rodriguez to shop her story during the 2016 presidential election cycle. Daniels said she had no intent of approaching Cohen or Trump to have them purchase her story. "My motivation wasn’t money, it was to get the story out," she testified prior to the lunch break.
Initially, she did not receive any interest from news outlets. But that changed after the release of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape in October 2016, a month ahead of the election. Daniels testified that she learned from Rodriguez that Cohen was interested in purchasing her silence.
"They were interested in paying for the story, which was the best thing that could happen because then my husband wouldn’t find out but there would still be documentation," Daniels said.
Daniels testified that when she was approached with Cohen’s $130,000 offer: "I didn’t care about the amount, I just wanted to get it done."
1:58 p.m. ET: ‘I’d rather make the money than somebody make money off of me’
Before the break, Stormy Daniels testified that a few years after "The Apprentice" possibility died and she had stopped talking with Trump, she learned from her agent in 2011 that the story had made its way to a magazine. She said she agreed to an interview for $15,000 because "I’d rather make the money than somebody make money off of me, and at least I could control the narrative."
The story never ran, but later that year, she was alarmed when an item turned up on a website. In the interim, she said, she’d been threatened to keep silent by a stranger in a Las Vegas parking lot, the Associated Press reported.
Daniels has previously made that claim and produced a composite sketch of the man, which Trump called "a total con job." Daniels sued Trump over that comment, calling it defamatory; her suit was dismissed in 2018, and she was ordered to pay Trump nearly $293,000 for his attorneys’ fees and another $1,000 in sanctions.
Daniels said her agent proposed getting the online item taken down, and it was.
1:00 p.m. ET: Mayor Eric Adams said that the city’s jail system will be ready if it has to house a former American president
The New York City mayor said during his regular Tuesday briefing at City Hall that correction officials have discussed the possibility of having to house Trump at Rikers Island following Monday’s warning from Judge Juan M. Merchan that he’s prepared to send the former president to jail if he’s found, yet again, to be in contempt of court at his hush-money trial.
RELATED: Could Trump really go to jail? Does he expect to?
"We have to adjust to whatever comes our way," Adams said, declining to elaborate. "We don’t want to deal with hypotheticals, but they’re professionals. They’ll be ready."
12:58 p.m. ET: The trial has broken for a lunch break
Donald Trump gives a fist pump to reporters as he left the courtroom.
12:55 p.m. ET: In their final meeting, Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump barely talked about her potential ‘Apprentice’ appearance
Stormy Daniels testified that she last saw Trump in June 2007 at his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She recalled spending about two hours there — highlighted by Trump’s fascination with the Discovery Channel’s "Shark Week," which was on the TV, and little news about her chances of appearing on "The Apprentice." Daniels testified that she spurned Trump’s advances and that he told her, "I miss you," and wanted to get together again, the Associated Press reported.
Asked if Trump every told her to keep things between them confidential, she testified: "Absolutely not."
Daniels said she spoke with Trump several more times by phone and that he eventually told her he wouldn’t be able to put her on "The Apprentice." She testified that Trump told her "someone high up’s wife overruled" the idea. In her 2018 book, "Full Disclosure," Daniels wrote that Trump had told her that actress Roma Downey — the wife of show producer Mark Burnett — had objected to her being on the program.
12:52 p.m. ET: Stormy Daniels wanted to maintain her relationship with Trump due to the possibility of a TV appearance
In January 2017, Stormy Daniels said she brought two friends to a vodka release party sponsored by Trump in Los Angeles.
Inside a VIP booth, Daniels said she was introduced to another of Trump’s friends — a woman she later learned was Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with Trump. The former president also denies this claim.
Daniels testified that Trump repeatedly propositioned her to go home with him that night, but that she declined his advances. At the same time, she said, she didn’t want to close off the possibility of appearing on "The Apprentice," which Trump had suggested was possible.
"I wanted to maintain that sort of relationship," she said. "The chance to be on ‘The Apprentice’ was still up in the air, and it would’ve been great for my career."
12:50 p.m. ET: Stormy Daniels describes subsequent encounters with Trump
Stormy Daniels said Trump’s bodyguard called her the next day to tell her that Trump wanted to see her again, and she agreed to meet him in a bar or club in her hotel. She found him with NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
The Associated Press reported Daniels said that Trump introduced her to the football player but seemed largely preoccupied during her 10 minute visit in the loud space. She said he would continue to think about the possibility of her appearing on one of his "Apprentice" show, she told jurors. (Roethlisberger declined to comment on Daniels’ description of the evening in her 2018 book.)
After returning home the next day, Daniels told many people she’d met Trump and gone to his room but informed only a few close confidantes about the alleged sexual encounter, she said. In the months after, she said, Trump called her frequently with "an update — or non-update" on the "Apprentice" possibilities.
"He always talked about when we could get together again, did I miss him, and he always called me honeybunch," she testified, adding that she always put him on speakerphone and many of her colleagues heard the calls — without telling him.
12:48 p.m. ET: Stormy Daniels notes power imbalance between her and Trump
Before they had sex, Stormy Daniels said Trump was between her and the door. She said she didn’t feel physically or verbally threatened, though she knew his bodyguard was outside the suite and there was what she perceived to be an imbalance of power: Trump "was bigger and blocking the way," she testified.
"The next thing I know was: I was on the bed," Daniels recalled.
12:45 p.m. ET: Stormy Daniels describes sexual encounter with Donald Trump
Stormy Daniels testified that she ended up having sex with Trump on the bed of his hotel suite.
After multiple discussions with the judge and Trump’s lawyers out of the earshot of jurors, prosecutor Hoffinger navigated her questioning about the encounter with exceeding caution, the Associated Press reported.
She instructed Daniels to keep her answers brief and free of extra details.
Trump’s lawyers repeatedly objected as Daniels described certain details, and Judge Merchan repeatedly shot down Daniels’ attempts to describe the encounter in more vivid detail — striking several of her answers from the official court record.
Asked if Trump used a condom during the encounter, Daniels said, "No." Daniels said the encounter was "brief" and when it ended she was shaking.
"He said, ‘Oh it was great, let’s get together again honey bunch,’" Daniels continued. "I just wanted to leave."
Jurors looked on, riveted, as Daniels discussed the sexual encounter.
Trump has denied having sex with Daniels.
12:40 p.m. ET: ‘I thought you were serious about what you wanted’
"I thought, ‘Oh my God,’ what did I misread to get here?" Stormy Daniels testified. "Because the intention was pretty clear. Somebody stripped down in their underwear and posed on the bed, waiting for you."
Daniels said Trump told her: "I thought we were getting somewhere, we’re talking. I thought you were serious about what you wanted. If you ever want to get out of that trailer park — I was offended because I never lived in a trailer park."
As Daniels described the bedroom encounter, Trump hung his head, eyes cast downward, away from the witness box.
12:30 p.m. ET: Stormy Daniels continues to describe her encounter with Trump
Stormy Daniels testified that, after a while, she had to use the bathroom. When she was finished, she said, she found Trump sitting on the bed wearing boxer shorts and a T-shirt.
"When I exited, he was up on the bed, like this," Daniels testified, feigning reclining with her knees up on the witness stand.
"At first it was just startled, like jump scare. I wasn’t expecting someone to be there, minus a lot of clothing," Daniels testified. She said it suddenly felt like the room was spinning, like blood was draining from her hands and feet.
12:20 p.m. ET: Trump suggested putting Daniels on ‘The Apprentice’
Stormy Daniels testified that she and Trump spoke for about two hours in his hotel suite before they were supposed to go to dinner. During the conversation, she said, he dangled the idea of putting her on his TV show "The Apprentice."
Daniels testified that Trump pitched the allure of a porn star competing on the show — which had yet to spawn its celebrity version — and said it would be a chance for her to show the world that, as a writer and director, she’s "more than a dumb bimbo."
Daniels said she doubted the show’s network, NBC, would ever let it happen and that she feared her lack of business acumen would make her an easy out. She said she enjoyed her work making adult films and wasn’t ashamed of it, but she had designs on writing and directing music videos and more mainstream productions. "They have bigger budgets and better catering," she quipped on the witness stand.
12:10 p.m. ET: Stormy Daniels discusses Melania Trump
Stormy Daniels testified that she briefly asked about Trump’s wife while in the hotel room, calling her very beautiful. Trump responded that they did not sleep in the same room, she said. As Daniels was describing the scene, Trump shook his head at the defense table and appeared to say something under his breath.
12:00 p.m. ET: Trump probed Daniels about the business of pornography
After Donald Trump changed into his suit, Stormy Daniels testified that she and Trump sat down at a dining room table in the penthouse. He started asking her about her childhood and her career — extending questions about the production of adult films, how much is scripted versus improv, whether performers have unions and how testing for sexually transmitted diseases works in the industry.
"He was very, very interested in a lot of the business aspects of it, which I thought was very cool," as most people just ask about "the sexy stuff ... the salacious things," Daniels said.
11:30 a.m. ET: In his penthouse hotel room, Trump greeted Stormy in pajamas
Per instructions from Donald Trump’s bodyguard, Stormy Daniels said she took an elevator up to the penthouse level of the hotel where Trump was staying. She said she exchanged pleasantries with the bodyguard, Keith Schiller, outside the door before entering, according to the Associated Press.
Schiller had told her the plan was for her and Trump to go down to one of the hotel’s restaurants for dinner. She said she entered a foyer with black and white tile floors, mahogany furnishings and a big floral arrangement. She said she called Trump’s name and said, "Hello," and Trump entered the foyer "wearing silk or satin pajamas that I immediately made fun of him for."
"I said, ‘Does Mr. Hefner know you stole his pajamas,’" Daniels recalled, referring to the late Playboy owner. Trump then left her to quickly change into a suit. She said Trump’s hotel suite was three times the size of her apartment.
11:25 a.m. ET: ‘What could go wrong?’
During their interactions in the gift room, Stormy Daniels testified that Donald Trump remembered her as "the smart one" and asked her if she wanted to go to dinner. She testified that Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller, took her number, the Associated Press reported.
Daniels said she accepted Trump’s invite because she wanted to get out of a planned dinner with her adult film company colleagues, some of whom she "didn’t want to be around — catfights," she said with a chuckle.
She said her then-publicist suggested in a phone call that Trump’s invitation was a good excuse to duck the work dinner and would "make a great story" and perhaps help her career. "What could possibly go wrong?" she recalled the publicist saying.
11:15 a.m. ET: Jurors are shown the now-famous photo of Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump at the 2006 celebrity golf tournament
Stormy Daniels said it was taken in a "gift room" where tournament sponsors, including the adult film company for which she then worked, distributed freebies to the players.
11:00 a.m. ET: Trump and Daniels met at a celebrity golf tournament
Stormy Daniels’ testimony quickly shifted to the celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe where she met Trump in 2006. The adult film studio she worked for at the time was sponsoring one of the holes on the golf course. She said they initially had a "very brief encounter" when Trump’s group passed through. She recalled him chatting with her about the adult film industry and her directing prowess, remarking that she must be smart if she’s making films.
10:46 a.m. ET: Jurors listen attentively as Stormy Daniels testifies about getting into adult films
One juror smirked when she mentioned one of the ways into the industry was by winning a contest, like "Miss Nude North America." Many jurors take notes, alternating their gaze from Stormy Daniels on the witness stand to prosecutor Susan Hoffinger at a lectern behind the prosecution table, the Associated Press reported.
10:45 a.m. ET: Stormy Daniels begins her testimony discussing her upbringing
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is asking Stormy Daniels about her upbringing in Louisiana. Daniels talks about having grown up poor and wanting to become a veterinarian.
10:40 a.m. ET: Stormy Daniels sworn in
Stormy Daniels walked to the witness stand, not looking at Trump, before being sworn in.
Trump stared straight forward as Daniels entered the room, turning his head slightly in her direction as she approached the stand.
10 a.m. ET: Publishing executive is 1st witness of the day
Sally Franklin, an executive at Penguin Random House, was the first witness to take the stand Tuesday in Trump's hush money trial. One of the publishing house's imprints published a couple of Trump's books, "Trump: How to Get Rich" and "Trump: Think Like a Billionaire."
Prosecutor Becky Mangold began questioning by having Franklin read excerpts from the 2004 volume "Trump: How to Get Rich" that get at Trump’s approach to business, according to the Associated Press.
The readings appeared to be designed to show that Trump was hands-on at his company and willing to retaliate against those he perceived to have done him wrong.
Among the excerpts: "If you don’t know every aspect of what you’re doing, down to the paper clips, you’re setting yourself up for some unwanted surprises," and "for many years, I’ve said that if someone screws you, screw them back."
9:30 a.m. ET: Trump posts about NYC congestion pricing while en route to courthouse
Trump has arrived at court in lower Manhattan for the 13th day of his hush money trial.
Ahead of his arrival, Trump dove back into local New York City news, posting on his social media network a complaint about a plan to charge a $15 toll to most drivers entering Manhattan’s central business district.
"I can’t believe that New York City is instituting Congestion Pricing, where everyone has to pay a fortune for the ‘privilege’ of coming into the City, which is in desperate trouble without it," Trump wrote.
"It is a big incentive not to come - there are plenty of other places to go. It’s been a failure everywhere it has been tried, and would only work if a place were HOT, HOT, HOT, which New York City is not right now. What office tenant or business would want to be here with this tax. Hopefully, it will soon be withdrawn!"
8:15 a.m. ET: Stormy Daniels expected to take the stand today
FILE - Stormy Daniels attends the Los Angeles Premiere Of Neon's "Pleasure" at Linwood Dunn Theater on May 11, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)
An attorney for Stormy Daniels told the AP this morning that the porn actor is expected to appear as a witness in Trump's hush money trial today.
Clark Brewster tells The Associated Press that Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is "likely" to be called as a witness in the trial on Tuesday.
Trump said earlier Tuesday that he was "recently told" who the witness would be on Tuesday and complained he should’ve been given more notice.
8 a.m. ET: The prosecution is ahead of schedule
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass on Monday afternoon told Judge Juan M. Merchan in Trump’s hush money trial that the prosecution’s case is proceeding ahead of schedule.
Steinglass said he estimates being finished with calling witnesses two weeks from Tuesday. While there’s the possibility of rebuttal witnesses, the estimate is related to the primary portions of the trial.
Once the prosecution is done, Trump’s lawyers can then call their witnesses.
Trump's hush money case
This browser does not support the Video element.
Hope Hicks testifies in Trump hush money trial
Donald Trump’s former campaign press secretary and White House communications director Hope Hicks took the stand today in Day 11 of his hush money trial.
The indictment against Trump centers on payoffs allegedly made to two women, porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
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.
Trump's company, the Trump Organization, then reimbursed Cohen and paid him bonuses and extra payments – all of which, prosecutors say, were falsely logged as legal expenses in company records. Over several months, Cohen said the company paid him $420,000.
Payments were also allegedly made to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child he alleged Trump had out of wedlock.
The indictment, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, made Trump the first ex-president ever to face criminal charges.
Trump has denied the accusations.
Who are the jurors?
This browser does not support the Video element.
Full jury seated in Trump hush money trial
A jury of 12 people was seated Thursday in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York and the court quickly turned to selecting alternate jurors.
After being forced to release a seated juror, the judge ordered the media not to report on where potential jurors have worked – even when stated in open court – and to be careful about revealing information about those who would sit in judgment of the former president. Here's what we can report.
Juror 1 and foreperson: A man who lives in New York City and has no children. Loves the outdoors and gets his news from The New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News and MSNBC.
When asked by Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche if he was aware Trump is charged in other cases and jurisdictions, and how that affects him, the man said, "I don’t have an opinion."
Juror 2: A man who said he follows Trump’s former lawyer, Cohen, on "X," formerly known as Twitter. He also revealed he follows other right-wing accounts including Trump’s former adviser, Kellyanne Conway.
He has said he would unfollow Cohen as he may be a witness in the trial.
Juror 3: A middle-aged man who lives in Manhattan. He grew up in Oregon. He gets his news from The New York Times and Google.
Juror 4: A man who lived in New York City for 15 years. He is originally from California. He is married with three children and a wife who is a teacher. He has served on a jury before – both on a grand jury and a jury in a criminal trial.
The juror said he gets his news from "a smattering" of sources and does not use social media.
Juror 5: A young woman who is a New York native.
She gets most of her news from Google and Tiktok.
Juror 6: A young woman who lives in Manhattan and likes to dance.
Juror 7: A man who is married with two children.
He gets most of his news from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and The Washington Post. The man has said he is aware there are other lawsuits but said, "I’m not sure that I know anyone’s character."
Juror 8: No information has been released about this juror.
Juror 9: A woman who lives in Manhattan. She is not married and has no children.
She has never served on a jury before and does not watch the news. However, she said she does have email subscriptions to CNN and The New York Times. She follows social media accounts and listens to podcasts. She also enjoys watching reality TV.
Juror 10: A man who lives in Manhattan. He is not married and has no children. He does have a roommate who works in accounting. He rarely follows the news but he does listen to podcasts on behavioral psychology.
Juror 11: No information has been released about this juror.
Juror 12: No information has been released about this juror.
How long will the trial last?
The trial is expected to last anywhere from six to eight weeks. Trump is expected to attend court each day.
How can I watch the Trump trial?
The trial is not being televised. Instead, news reporters and producers will have the ability to sit inside the courtroom and deliver information to the public.
How many court cases is Trump involved in?
As of this report, Trump is currently involved in four criminal cases, which includes the hush money case.
A second case out of Fulton County, Georgia, has charged Trump, as well as 18 others, with participating in a scheme to illegally attempt to overturn the former president’s loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump is also involved in a third criminal case in Washington, D.C., which charged him with allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
And his fourth case involves classified documents that Trump illegally retained at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House.
RELATED: A guide to Trump’s court cases
The Associated Press, FOX News, FOX 5 NY and Catherine Stoddard contributed to this report.