Donald Trump's hush money trial has once again veered into uncharted waters — this time in the form of a debate over who's an “orange turd.”
On the second day of testimony from adult film actress Stormy Daniels — the woman Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen paid off to cover up an alleged affair with the former president ahead of the 2016 election — Trump's defense team continued their attempts to poke holes in Daniel's credibility , trying to paint her as a money-grubbing porn star “making phony stories about sex” who has been attacking Trump for personal gain.
Trump attorney Susan Necheles even pointed to a tweet from Daniels in which she wrote that she doesn't “owe him shit and I'll never give that orange turd a dime.” The defense suggested the post believed the former president and supported their claims that Daniels was attempting to profit off the case.
“It doesn't say 'President Trump,' it says 'orange turd,'” Daniels replied. “If that's how you're going to interpret it, that's on you.” She did, however, eventually clarify that she “absolutely” meant Trump.
The defense also noted Daniels' NBC documentary, book deal, tour of the country, and new show exploring the paranormal activity in her Baton Rouge home growing up — examples of how she's “selling herself” to make money off of the alleged affair.
“Not unlike Mr. Trump,” Daniels quipped in response to the implication, saying her actions were no different than Trump's consistent fundraising campaign bids around developments in the trial.
Trump's also grilled Daniels on the details of the alleged affair, pressing her at length about whether she had dinner during the alleged sexual encounter and the power dynamic she felt while in the room with the former president.
“I was shocked, I was surprised,” Daniels testified on Thursday as how she felt seeing Trump on a bed in only his underwear. Necheles questioned how Daniels could have more than 200 adult film credits to her name but she still feel like she was going to faint when she saw Trump, as she had previously indicated.
“It was the first time that they had a bodyguard outside their door, and they were twice my age and in their underwear and bigger than me,” Daniels replied.
Throughout Daniels' cross-examination, Necheles attempted to paint Daniels as a “good storyteller” who has “completely changed” her story. Daniels pushed back at Necheles, explaining, “I didn't have to write this one. I'm saying I didn't make millions of dollars and I didn't have to write this story.”
The defense continued to question Daniels' work as an adult film actress, and later on, a writer and director. “So you're good at making up” stories about sex, Necheles asked Daniels at one point, causing a rather incredulous Daniels to respond: “That's not how I would put it, the sex in the films is very much real just as is what happened in that room. The sex is real, the characters may not, but the sex is very real.”
As the defense has repeatedly attempted to paint Daniels as an untrustworthy figure whose claims were inherently implausible, they have risked painting themselves into a legal corner. If Daniels' allegations were an implausible ploy for cash, why bother buying her silence over her story about an affair with Trump in the first place, a story Trump and his defense team continue to maintain is totally false?
Trump stands accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to allegations that the then-candidate and his associates made hush money payments to women, including $130,000 to Daniels, in order to aid his 2016 presidential election campaign. Prosecutors have accused the former president of unlawfully masking reimbursement payments to his former attorney, Cohen, as legal expenses.
Former tabloid boss David Pecker, who aided Trump and Cohen in arranging several of the hush money payments made in 2016, demonstrated earlier in the trial that the former president knew the details of the payment to Daniels. Pecker recalled that Trump complained to him that Daniels had violated the hush-money deal she'd made with Trump fixer Michael Cohen after the porn star gave a televised interview about her alleged affair with the former president.
Daniels' first day of testimony on Tuesday came as a bit of a surprise for the defense. The former president posted — then quickly deleted — a lengthy rant on Truth Social indirectly attacking Daniels, potentially once again violating a gag order from Judge Juan Merchan.
On Monday, Merchan ruled for the second time that Trump had violated the order barring him from attacking witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, and court staff through his public statements and social media posts, finding him in contempt of court and threatening him with jail time if he violates the order again.
“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent,” Merchan told Trump on Monday. “The last thing I want to do is to put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next president as well. There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort for you.”
Trump has reportedly appeared irritated throughout Daniels' testimony, especially as she described her sexual encounter with Trump. We'll see if the former president can adhere to the gag order and refrain from attacking her.