Donald Trump trial live updates: Longtime aide Madeleine Westerhout cries on the stand as she says Melania 'was the one in charge'

Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche is pressing back on the gag order restricting Donald Trump from speaking about witness Stormy Daniels in light of her testimony.

'He needs an opportunity to respond to the American people,' Blanche says.

Blanche argues Daniels is no longer a witness.

The other side can say things, Blanche argues, but Trump can't.

'It cannot be that he cannot respond to that... now that she's off the stand,' Blanche says.

He claims Daniels' story has changed, so Trump should be able to respond.

Prosecutor argues there are people making the case for Trump publicly, and he can respond in court.

He claims modifying the gag order now would signal to witnesses that they are at risk as well.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche says he was informed by prosecutors they don't plan to call the former Playboy playmate.

Madeleine Westerout's testimony has wrapped up for the day.

She appeared to smile in Donald Trump's direction as she left the witness stand.

Madeleine Westerhout is being cross-examined by Susan Necheles.

She is giving a glowing review of working for Donald Trump at the White House, calling him a really good boss and that she found him 'enjoyable to work for.'

Madeleine Westerhout broke down in tears on the witness stand when she was asked about her exit from the White House.

She dabs her eyes with tissues and is asked if she needs to take a moment, but they keep going.

She recalls she went to a dinner she thought was off the record and 'said some things I should not have said.' She recalls it 'ultimately' cost her the job and she is 'very regretful of my youthful indiscretion.'

Westerhout wrote an entire book about her exit from the White House.

She says she wrote it because she wanted to share with the American people about the 'man I got to know.'

'I don't think he's treated fairly and I wanted to tell that story,' she says.

She spoke to Trump at a fundraiser once after she left the White House.

Westerhout is asked about her interactions with Melania Trump. She says she did interact with her.

She recalls Trump was very upset by the Stormy Daniels story and that Trump spoke to Michael Cohen around that time.

Westerhout describes the Trumps' relationship as one of 'mutual respect.'

'I know he cares a lot about her opinion,' she recalls.

She describes Melania as the one who could put Trump in his place and said their relationship was 'special.'

She also says the couple 'laughed a lot when she came into the office.'

‘I just really respected their relationship,’ Westerhout says.

Did anything change about their relationship after Stormy Daniels story came out?

‘Not that I saw,’ she says.

In one example shown to the jury, Rhona Graff sent note about golf club and whether to pay personal dues.

Because the note was sent down to White House, Westerhout says she passed it on to the president.

The jury is shown the note sent by Graff with her note about the club dues.

On the note below what Graff had written, Trump wrote in his own hand: 'Pay –'

When asked about Trump's personal financials, Westerhout recalls ‘it was my understanding they were handled by checks.'

She says she would bring them in for Trump to sign. At first checks were sent to Keith Schiller and eventually to her.

Westerhout would open the envelopes and bring them in for the president to sign. She says there were sometimes invoices attached.

She says she doesn't recall the frequency of checks but says it was 'consistent' ‘maybe twice a month.’

Despite the dull topic, the jury appears to be paying attention to the details of her testimony.

She describes the relationship between Trump and Cohen at the time as close.

Did he visit the White House?

‘I believe so,’ she says.

The jury is shown an email between Cohen and Westerhout confirming his visit and asking Cohen for information to get through.

The jury is shown a list of contacts provided by Graff to Westerhout.

She recalls it was a list of people Trump reached out to often or might want to speak to.

The list included the then-president’s family including daughter Tiffany, Allen Weisselberg, and David Pecker who Westerhout described as a ‘tabloid person.’

Michael Cohen is also listed.

When she received list she entered all the contacts into her contacts, Westerhout recalls.

If a name appeared on the list, she says ‘yes’ she was more likely to patch them through to the then-president.

Madeleine Westerhout testifies that her main point of contact at Trump Organization was Rhona Graff, his Trump Organization executive assistant.

When Trump had questions for Trump Organization employees, she recalls she would pass those along.

She says she would speak to Graff weekly if not daily early in the job but that tapered off as the work continued.

The first emails shown invovled an exchange about Westerhout getting contacts from Graff.

Madeleine Westerhout is going through some details of Donald Trump's work habits in the White House.

At one poine she says she felt guilty she would go to bed sometimes before Trump finished taking calls at night.

When asked if Trump used a computer or have an email account, she responds to each 'not to my knowledge.'

Did Trump like to read? ‘Yes,’ she says.

She describes how he moved his working space into a room off the side of the oval office eventually. She recall she wanted to keep the oval office ‘pristine.’

She also discusses his signature habits. He prefered to sign things himself.

'He liked to use sharpies,' she says. She also mentions a felt-

tipped pen.

The prosecution is working to establish how closely Madeleine Westerhout worked near Donald Trump in the White House.

The jury is being shown a floorplan of the White House with the Oval Office listed as well as surrounding offices.

Prosecutor asks: 'Did anyone work closer to Trump than you did?’

‘Not in the first few months,' she says.

Westerhout was known as ‘greeter girl’ at Trump Tower after Trump won the election and before he took office. She came up to New York to help with scheduling.

She is asked about Michael Cohen and identifies him as Trump’s lawyer.

She describes him as ‘around’ at Trump Tower during that time.

Westerhout was at the RNC when the Access Hollywood tape of Trump was released during the 2016 election.

She is asked the impact the tape had.

Westerhout says it was 'rattling' to RNC leadership.

She recalls there were conversations about how it would be possible to replace Donald Trump as the candidate if it came to that.

Trump remained the candidate.

Madeleine Westerhout is the next question called by the prosecution.

She works in consulting but she worked as Donald Trump's executive assistant in the White House. Before the 2016 election she worked for the Republican National Committee.

When asked if she's nervous to testify, she says 'I am now.'

Witness from HarperCollins has left the witness stand.

Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche is questioning the witness, Tracey Menzies.

Tracey Menzies is being asked to read excerpts from Trump’s book 'Think Big.'

One chapter she reads from is titled 'Do Not Trust Anyone.'

Another excerpt she is reading is about loyalty. For someone he describes in the book as disloyal, Trump writes he goes out of his way to make her life miserable.

Tracey Menzies is the next witness. She has worked for HarperCollins for the past 25 years.

She is being asked about the Trump book 'Think Big: Make it Happen in Business and Life.'

The cover of the book is being shown in court.

Trump defense lawyer Susan Necheles is cross examining Rebecca Manochio.

Manochio was Allen Weisselberg's executive assistant at the Trump Organization.

Manochio testifies that Ivanka Trump was also having her checks sent down to Washington while she was working at the White House.

Stormy Daniels' lawyer Clark Brewster praised his client as she left the witness stand following six hours of testimony in the Manhattan trial.

He posted a photo of him smiling with the adult film star who was grilled on her adult film career during the brutal cross-examination by Trump's defense attorneys.

The jury was shown an email from John McEntee, who worked for Trump as a personal aide at the White House to Rhona Graff in September 2017.

McEntee asked to be put in touch with Rebecca Manochio as Trump's aide Keith Schiller was leaving his job.

McEntree wrote: ‘I will need the bosses personal checks mailed to me.'

In a follow up email to Manochio, McEntee said ‘we are all very sad to see [Schiller] go.'

McEntee gave her a personal email address so could give Manochio the best address to send the checks to.

Subsequent invoices from FedEx reflected that the checks were sent to McEntee - the jury were shown one from November.

Rebecca Manochio is testifying about mailing Donald Trump's checks unsigned down to Washington. They would come back signed.

She says she would FedEx the checks about once a week.

Manochio recalls sending a few checks at a time but has remembered one.

She would put unsigned checks in an envelope. Returned checks were also sent to her at the Trump Organization with his signature.

Prosecutors allege that Trump signed nine checks for more than $300,000 to repay Michael Cohen while he was President of the United States.

When it was addressed that Trump got a new job as president, Trump smiled.

Rebecca Manochio is the next witness to testify.

She is a junior book keeper at the Trump Organization.

She is testifying about previously being an executive assistant to Allen Weisselberg, former chief financial officer, for eight years.

Stormy Daniels has left the witness stand.

She testified for more than six hours and delivered by far the most intense and salacious evidence.

Daniels is photographed departing the courthouse:

From Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in court:

After firing of some zingers during cross-examination, Stormy Daniels is much more subdued during the redirect and follow-up questions from the defense.

She is speaking much more softly, slowly and giving some one-word answers.

Daniels has been viewing a series of nasty social media posts.

In redirect, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asks 'have you been telling lies about Mr. Trump or the truth about Mr. Trump?’

‘The truth,' Daniels says.

She is asked about the costs of telling her story. She mentions hiring security and having to move. She also notes attorney fees after losing judgement.

'Has publicly telling the truth been net positive or net negative?’ Hoffinger asks.

‘Negative,’ says Daniels.

Prosecutor rests.

Prosecutor asks Stormy Daniels about a tweet where someone calls her a prostitute and says 'good luck walking down the street.'

It is one of several posts Daniels is asked to view.

Daniels says the ones she is being shown are 'tame' by comparison to some others.

Florida Senator Rick Scott spoke to reporters stationed outside of the Trump trial courthouse.

'The lead prosecutor was the number three person at the Biden Justice Department,' he said referring to prosecutor Michael Colangelo.

'The judge's daughter is a political operative who raises money for Democrats, this has to stop. We know that President Biden can't win this election fair and square,' Scott stated.

He also appeared on Fox News while Stormy's testimony was ongoing, calling the case 'political persecution.'

'It is a crime to use the courts for political persecution. If we don't stop this every American is at risk. I'm going to go support this president because this is wrong what's happening to this guy.'

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is poking holes in the cross-examination of Stormy Daniels.

As one example of several, she pulls up a line from an article that notes Daniels' interview had been 'edited' and says Susan Necheles 'didn't ask you about that?'

Daniels confirms she did not.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is asking Stormy Daniels questions.

Susan Necheles is asking Stormy Daniels about her knowledge of the indictment against Trump.

‘There are a lot of indictments,’ Daniels says. She smiles.

It came as Necheles had been asking Daniels about the payment at the center of the case.

Daniels said she was paid by her lawyer. She never negotiated directly with Donald Trump.

Trump's former White House communications director Mike Dubke, in a rare appearance on CNN, says voters won't be swayed by Stormy Daniels' testimony.

Dubke served over 100 days - or as he put it '10 Scaramuccis' - as Trump's communications chief.

He told CNN:

Dubke added:

Trump's lawyer submits social media posts by Stormy Daniels of the fliers to her tour into evidence.

The posts are shown in the courtroom.

Daniels had testified she did not like the name of the tour. She says she reposted to promote for her job.

From Rob Crilly, Senior Political Reporter inside court:

As the jury left for a short morning break, Trump tapped his defense lawyer Susan Necheles on the left elbow as if to thank her for her work cross-examing Daniels.

Once the jury and witness had left, Trump then exited the court and pointed at Newsmax host Greg Kelly in the public gallery.

He clearly thinks he had a good morning.

From Rob Crilly, Senior Political Reporter inside court:

This is a high-risk strategy by the defense, using Stormy Daniels' history in the adult movie against her.

Susan Necheles, the only woman on the defense team, has already pointed out that Daniels has made a career out of inventing sex scenes, suggesting that the Trump encounter is just another figment of her imagination.

And now she is asking how it is that someone who has acted in 200 movies could possibly be shocked by the sight of a man in boxer shorts sitting on a bed.

One of the women in the jury is sitting forward now, her head snapping back and forth to follow questions and answers.

‘Your story has completely changed hasn’t it?’ Susan Necheles says.

‘No, not at all,’ Daniels says she shot back that the lawyer is trying to make her say it has changed ‘but it hasn’t changed.’

At another point Necheles says 'you made all this up right?'

'No,' Daniels says.

Susan Necheles is focused on Stormy Daniels' previous retelling of the story where she came out of the bathroom and Trump was in his underwear on the bed.

She asks a series of questions about Daniels' surprise about Trump being on the bed and her feeling faint.

She asks after all the porn Daniels has done, seeing a man sitting on the bed in his boxers and t-shirt was so upsetting she got light headed and almost fainted?

Daniels counters: ‘Yes, when you’re not expecting to see a man twice your age.’

Faint?

Daniels responds ‘absolutely.’ She goes on that ‘if I came out of the bathroom and saw an older man I wasn’t expecting to see there.

Necheles points out earlier Daniels claims she spanked him. Daniels says that was ‘in jest.’

At another point, Necheles notes that she said in her book 'you'd made him your b***ch?'

'I had earlier, yes,' Daniels says.

'Because you are powerful right?'

'I used to think so,' Daniels says.

Trump’s lawyer is attempting to poke holes in Stormy Daniels’ story about Trump in 2006 where he had invited her over for dinner.

This is the alleged encounter where Daniels and Trump had sex.

Susan Necheles brings up Daniels’ interview in 2018 in which she says she went for dinner.

There is a back and forth over what dinner meant.

'I went to dinner and didn't get dinner,' Daniels says.

Necheles also says it was a big deal you didn't get dinner?

'It was dinnertime, I was hungry,' Daniels says.

Daniels says they spent dinner time in the room, but they never actually ate.

Necheles is going through exact wording in Daniels' previous retelling of the story and argues there have been inconsistencies.

Donald Trump's lawyer is asking Stormy Daniels about making porn films.

'You have a lot of experience of making phony stories about sex appear to be real?' Necheles says.

Daniels counters 'wow, that's not how I'd put it.'

She says 'the sex in the films is very much real.' She adds 'just like what happened to me in that room' referencing her alleged encounter with Trump in 2006.

Daniels is asked about a supposedly fake story about having sex with Trump.

She responds: 'if that story was untrue, I would have written it to be a lot better.’

Trump’s lawyer is working to show Stormy Daniels is still making money off her story.

Susan Necheles calls up evidence including merchandise that is sold on Stormy Daniels’ store.

Before pulling up the evidence, Necheles asks Stormy Daniels about taking credit for the Trump indictment.

'You're bragging about how you got President Trump indicted,' Necheles says.

‘I got President Trump indicted?’ Daniels responds by gesturing to herself.

Necheles pulls up an image of one item: ‘Stormy Saint of Indictments Candle.’

She asks Daniels about selling it off the indictment.

‘No, I think it’s funny a store made those for me to sell, so I put them on my site,’ she says.

Necheles asks if she’s making $40 off them, Daniels says no, she’s making $7.

Trump's defense lawyer Susan Necheles is asking Stormy Daniels about her trying to take Donald Trump down.

She shows a March 27 tweet from Daniels in which she retweets a post that calls her a toilet.

Daniels wrote: 'Exactly! Making me the best person to flush the orange turd down.’

Daniels notes the person she retweeted was calling her a human toilet 'so I capitalized on the joke.'

She tells Necheles she put words in her mouth about being 'instrumental or jail.'

'You weren't saying you were going to be instrumental in causing him to be convicted of a crime?' Necheles asks.

'No,' Daniels says. She says 'someone calls me a toilet, I'm pretty sure I can say I can flush somebody.'

Necheles asks her if she knows what she meant when she said 'orange turd.'

Daniels responds that she is making her own assumption as to who it is. The court laughs.

Eventually, Daniels says 'I absolutely meant Mr. Trump.'

She claims she responds to hundreds of tweets that attack her.

Stormy Daniels told the court she hated the name of her strip club tour: 'Make America Horny Again'.

Necheles is asking Daniels about the advertising for the tour, specifically with a photo of Daniels and Trump from the golf course meeting.

Daniels claimed she fought 'tooth and nail' to change the name as Necheles suggested she was trying to capitalize on the affair story.

From Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in court:

Stormy Daniels appears much less nervous in court today.

She is speaking calmly and more slowly than she had been speaking on Tuesday.

Her tone is measured and she is taking pauses at times before responding to questions in cross-examination.

It comes after she was asked to slow down numerous times in court on Tuesday.

Legal experts told DailyMail.com that a nervous witness can be a challenge for lawyers to question because they either do not speak at all or share much more than what is asked. Neither is ideal.

Trump attorney Susan Necheles, who is cross-examining Stormy Daniels, asks her if she wanted to publicly announce she had sex with Trump.

'No. Nobody would ever want to publicly say that. I wanted to publicly defend myself,' Daniels said

While discussing payment for her story, Trump's defense plays audio of Stormy Daniels' former lawyer Keith Davidson speaking about selling Daniels story.

It's audio of Davidson speaking to Michael Cohen on his podcast.

In the audio, Davidson recalls Daniels telling him in 2016 if Trump loses 'we lose all our leverage.'

He claims she told him 'settle this f***ing case.'

Davidson says he was 'bullied and pushed' into settling the case.

In court, Daniels responds to the audio that she never 'railed at Keith Davidson on the phone.'

'This says Gina's boyfriend was going to tell the story. That was a threat from Keith Davidson,' Daniels says.

Susan Necheles is walking through a statement Stormy Daniels signed in January 2018 denying they ever had an affair.

It happened around the same time the Wall Street Journal article was coming out.

Susan Necheles is asking Stormy Daniels a series of questions about trying to sell her story before the 2016 election.

‘I never asked for money from anyone in particular, I asked for money to tell my story,’ Daniels says.

She claims she was ‘asking to sell my story to publications to get the truth out.’

Necheles suggests she could have done it with a press conference.

‘I could have,’ Daniels says. She adds that she ‘chose to be safe.’

‘You chose to make money?’ Necheles says.

Daniels says she chose to take a nondisclosure agreement.

Necheles has brought up conversations Daniels had with a Slate reporter who tried to convince her to let him publish her story.

Daniels says it was backup if the nondisclosure agreement fell through.

Daniels also says the nondisclosure agreement was a ‘better alternative.’

She claims it would have protected her story with a paper trail.

Necheles says if the story came out there would have been a paper trail.

Daniels says it would have ‘with a target on my back and my family’s.’

She called the nondisclosure agreement a ‘perfect solution.’

Necheles asks if the motivation to go public also was to hurt Trump politically for his 'newfound' opposition to abortion and gay marriage saying she wanted money or would hurt him?

'No,' Daniels says.

From Rob Crilly, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in the courtroom:

Donald Trump arrived in the courtroom at 9:25 a.m. ET with a bigger retinue than any other day.

Florida Senator Rick Scott took a seat in the row behind the defendant, with Trump's attorney Alina Habba.

Natalie Harp is in her usual seat in the second row next to the aisle.

As Trump entered, Newsmax host Greg Kelly stood up in the public gallery, wished him luck and flashed a thumbs up. He was quickly ordered to sit down.

Real estate investor Steve Witkoff is also in Trump's small group of supporters.

Donald Trump's defense lawyer Susan Necheles is questioning the witness.

She has pulled up communications about Daniels attempting to sell her story in 2016.

Prosecutors ask the judge to block an arrest of Stormy Daniels from being submitted into evidence.

The arrest did not result in charges nor a conviction for assault. Therefore, Judge Merchan says it cannot be brought up.

Trump’s defense lawyer Susan Necheles says she would like to ask about Daniels’ husband accusing her of assault and the prosecutors object that anyone can make an accusation.

The judge rejects it being brought up.

He says it was 'not probative of anything' as the case went nowhere and Daniels was not convicted.

Ted Cruz has issued an unusual defense of Donald Trump amid Stormy Daniels' salacious testimony.

The Republican Texas senator said people should not be shocked that Donald Trump has not been 'celibate'.

Cruz said:

Donald Trump spoke to reporters before entering the courtroom on Thursday morning.

The ex-president blasted the case against him.

He was joined by lawyer Todd Blanche.

Also with Trump in court today is Florida Senator Rick Scott, adviser Boris Epshteyn and lawyer Alina Habba.

A court officer told photographers in the hallway that Judge Merchan is no longer allowing photography in the courtroom for the rest of the trial.

Photographers had been allowed to take photos of Donald Trump at the start of the day from the front of the courtroom but from nowhere else.

Someone reportedly violated the order by taking a photograph from the aisle while walking to the front of the court.

Photographers are limited to taking photographs from the hallway only when Trump enters and exits.

Here is an example from May 7 of the photography that previously had been permitted:

Donald Trump departed Trump Tower to head to the Manhattan criminal court.

The ex-president waved before heading to his motorcade.

President Joe Biden is watching the news coverage of Donald Trump’s hush-money trial.

‘Only on the evening news,’ he told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an interview that aired on Wednesday night.

He also used one of his favorite phrases to indicate he’s praying for his Republican rival.

'God love him,' Biden said.

Biden has been hitting the campaign trail while Trump has been stuck in a New York City courtroom four days a week.

Stormy Daniels walked into the Manhattan Criminal Court early on Thursday morning to prepare to take the stand in the hush money trial for the second time.

She was surrounded by law enforcement and had her glasses on her head as was guided into the court complex.

From Emily Goodin, Senior Political Reporter:

Melania Trump is believed to be in Mar-a-Lago as Stormy Daniels took the stand in the Donald Trump hush money trial.

As Daniels was describing her sexual encounter with the former president, the former first lady has remained behind closed doors of the Trumps’ private club in Palm Beach.

She is preparing for the couple’s son Barron to graduate from high school on Friday, May 17th. And she’s been selling a gold flower pendant in honor of Mother’s Day that can be customized with a person’s initials.

Barron attends a high school in Palm Beach, which is the main residence of his parents. The Trumps have not announced where he will go to college.

Melania hasn’t been seen by Donald Trump’s side in 31 days, since she joined him at a fundraiser for his presidential campaign on April 6th.

She was last seen when she hosted a fundraiser for Log Cabin Republicans at Mar-a-Lago on April 20th.

The event was closed to press coverage but former Trump administration official Richard Grenell, who is openly gay, posted photos on social media of him and the former first lady hosting the gathering.

Melania is reported to be reading coverage of the New York trial even though she is said to consider it her husband’s problem.

When the news of Donald Trump’s affair with Daniels – which he denies – originally broke in 2017, the then-first lady was said to be blindsided and furious with her husband.

Hundreds of people lined up at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday morning to see the second act of the Stormy Daniels show.

Cops closed the gate to the park as hordes showed up hoping to get a space to watch her testimony continue.

When Stormy Daniels took the stand in Donald Trump’s hush money case, her salacious testimony was a lewd story of unwanted, unprotected, blackout missionary sex nearly 20 years ago with a married celebrity who would go on to run for and become President of the United States.

Trump, now the  2024 presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is facing 34 criminal charges for falsifying business records for allegedly trying to hide the payment to Daniels before the 2016 election.

Legal experts believe Stormy Daniels' detailed testimony should not have been allowed and actually damaged the prosecution case despite her being an important witness in supporting their theory that there was an effort to violate election law.

Read more below

The atmosphere inside courtroom 1530 was already electric. A brooding Donald Trump glared out at the ranks of press as if to gauge the size of his audience before prosecutors and defense lawyers haggled over how much of the mechanics of his alleged affair could be brought up before the jury.

Only no-one had reckoned with the way porn star Stormy Daniels would become a runaway witness as she described their 2006 hotel encounter.

'I had my clothes and my shoes off. I believe my bra however was still on. We were in the missionary position,' Daniels said.

Read the full account of Daniels' testimony below.

Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand in Donald Trump’s hush money trial to continue her extraordinary testimony.

The porn star went into lurid and salacious detail on Tuesday about the night with the former president in a hotel room in 2006 where they allegedly had sex.

Her allegations and claims against Trump, which he has furiously denied, led to the defense asking for multiple objections and demanding a mistrial.