Stormy Daniels Testimony ‘Humiliating’ for Trump

Donald Trump’s estranged niece has branded Stormy Daniels’ testimony in his ongoing criminal trial “incredibly humiliating” for the former president.

On Tuesday, adult film star Daniels took the stand at New York City’s Manhattan Criminal Court, where she shared allegations of a purported one-night standwith Trump back in 2006. Trump has been married to Melania Trump since 2005.

Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to so-called hush money he arranged for his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay Daniels to keep the alleged affair she had with the former president a secret ahead of the 2016 election.

The money was listed in Donald Trump’s company records as “legal fees,” which prosecutors suggest was part of an unlawful attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 race. Donald Trump admitted to reimbursing the $130,000 to Cohen, but has denied all accusations of wrongdoing, saying that the trial is part of a political witch hunt aimed at derailing his bid for another term in the White House.

While on the stand on Tuesday, Daniels testified that she met Donald Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, California, in July of 2006. At the time, Daniels was working with adult film company Wicked Pictures.

Daniels said that after initially rejecting an invitation to dine with Donald Trump, she accepted following encouragement from her publicist. There was no dinner, Daniels said, testifying that she met Donald Trump in a hotel room. There, she alleged, they had unprotected sex. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, also said that she used a magazine featuring Donald Trump on the cover to swat the onetime real estate mogul “right on the butt.”

Mary Trump—daughter of Donald Trump’s late brother Fred Trump—weighed in on her embattled uncle having to sit through the testimony, branding it “humiliating.”

In a Substack post—the details of which she also shared on X, formerly Twitter—the psychologist wrote that Daniels “appeared credible,” adding: “Based on some of what she shared under questioning by the prosecutor, I suspect much of it was incredibly humiliating for Donald as Daniels shared some intimate details.”

A frequent critic of her uncle, Mary Trump went on: “Donald told Daniels that he reminded her of his daughter, Ivanka. And he called her ‘honeybunch.’ I can reveal this to you now: honeybunch is my family’s preferred term of endearment.”

The defense launched an unsuccessful appeal for Judge Juan Merchan to declare a mistrial based on Daniels’ testimony, arguing that she had shared details that had “nothing to do” with the case. The defense also said that prosecutors had asked such questions “aside from pure embarrassment,” to “inflame the jury.”

After going over the defense’s futile attempt at getting a mistrial, Mary Trump wrote: “Apparently, for Donald and his team, Daniels telling the truth was a step too far.”

Minutes before court returned from lunch on Tuesday, Donald Trump also called for a mistrial in a post shared on his Truth Social platform.

“THE PROSECUTION, WHICH HAS NO CASE, HAS GONE TOO FAR. MISTRIAL!” the former star of The Apprentice wrote, in part. “This Witch Hunt is FALSE ANCIENT HISTORY that was fully adjudicated by the Voters in the 2016 Presidential Election. It only has to do with Election Interference, and trying to help Crooked Joe Biden get elected because he can’t do it by himself.”

Donald Trump’s trial, which is now in its fourth week, has affected his ability to campaign as he vies for a second term in the White House. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is expected to face off against President Joe Biden this November in a rematch that follows Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat.