Stormy Daniels had her day in court in New York yesterday and how you feel about her performance depends, like so much else, on how you feel about Donald Trump. It was riveting and icky hearing her describe how Trump greeted her in his hotel room in satin pyjamas, before slipping into his boxer shorts and sprawling on the bed, come-hither style, while she was in the bathroom.
After that, goodness me! It all got a bit naughty. No wonder wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and most of the Trump family have stayed away from court, but they will have to re-engage at some point if they want to return to the White House. If Trump is found guilty, they may be called on to campaign as surrogates on his behalf.
First, the evidence. The judge had warned Daniels not to refer to Trump’s “genitalia” in court but she did manage to squeeze in how she spanked the former US president with a rolled-up magazine, with his portrait on the cover. This had a ring of truth because Trump famously loves displaying fake covers of himself on the walls of his properties. They discussed STD tests (Trump is a well-known germophobe), condoms (he didn’t use one) and the “next thing I know I was on the bed”, Daniels said.
The world’s best-known porn star sounded more affronted than saucy. Daniels had hoped to get a gig on The Apprentice TV show and said she had trotted along to Trump’s hotel room to talk business, not pleasure.
Whatever happens aides are preparing plans to campaign with surrogates in case Trump is locked up
In cross-examination, defence lawyers pounced on any evidence that she was trying to extort Trump. Daniels insisted she signed a non-disclosure agreement for $130,000 on the eve of the 2016 election for a liaison that happened over a decade earlier because she was afraid of his power. Her motivation was “fear, not money”, she said. Well, possibly. But when she was accused of making a lot of money off Trump, she retorted accurately: “It has also cost me a lot of money.” American lawyers don’t come cheap.
Was she credible? The details were compelling. Daniels has stood up to piercing scrutiny for years, while it has taken only a few days for the puppy-killing South Dakota governor, Kristi Noem, for instance, to be exposed for lying about meeting Kim Jong Un, the North Korean dictator, in her gaffe-strewn memoir.
Notably, Trump’s lawyers have not pressed Daniels on the truth of her story, although she faces further questioning in court tomorrow. In fact they might be relieved that there is now almost no chance Trump will take the stand, lest he be drawn into committing perjury. At the best of times, Trump is likely to be a volatile witness, even in his own defence. His team would rather he stayed out of the witness box.
However, gripping though Daniels’s testimony has been for the jury, it is also weirdly irrelevant to the allegedly fraudulent record-keeping at the heart of the case. She has no first-hand knowledge about that. Trump’s lawyers still think — not unreasonably — that they can win or get a hung jury, but it won’t be easy. The judge has also threatened Trump with jail if he keeps breaking his gag order.
Whatever happens, aides are preparing contingency plans to campaign with surrogates in case Trump is locked up or, more plausibly, placed under house arrest with an ankle tag at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. The talent list is thin. Last weekend, a batch of Republicans auditioned for the role of vice president, Apprentice-style, at Mar-a-Lago, including the much-diminished Noem.
Senators JD Vance (Ohio), Marco Rubio (Florida) and Tim Scott (South Carolina) were all there, jostling for Trump’s favour. None of them can please a crowd like he can. You can be sure Trump thinks the best surrogates will be members of his own family. Lara Trump, the wife of second son Eric, is already running the Republican National Party, and Eric has been the only sibling to attend Trump’s trial to date.
The loyal Eric fumed on X about Daniels yesterday: “Perspective: Sitting in front row attempting to figure out how any of this garbage from 20 years ago relates to ‘legal’ bills submitted by a long time personal attorney being booked as a ‘legal’ expense — but I digress.” But he has been involved in the Trump family business rather than politics and is not a well-known figure.
His older brother, Don Jr, is popular with the Make America Great Again crowd, but even they tend to think of him as a rather dim lightbulb. Undoubtedly, the most popular surrogates would be Melania and Ivanka, but they are also likely to be the most horrified by the course of the trial.
In court Daniels said Trump told her his wife was “beautiful” and showed her some photographs, but said they shared separate bedrooms. Years later, it was alleged Melania barely slept under the same roof as Trump at the White House, with the first lady often spending time away with her parents.
What about Ivanka? She cannot have been thrilled that her father allegedly told Daniels: “You remind me of my daughter.”
As it is, Melania loathes campaigning, although she did turn up for a fundraiser with gay Log Cabin Republicans at Mar-a-Lago recently. One gets the impression that, if asked to do more, she might don her infamous “I really don’t care. Do U?” jacket. Trump’s alleged sex with Daniels took place while she was four months pregnant with Barron.
What about Ivanka? She cannot have been thrilled that her father allegedly told Daniels: “You remind me of my daughter … Smart, blonde and beautiful. And people underestimate her as well.” The timing was awkward. Only last weekend, it emerged in Puck magazine that Ivanka was “warming to the idea” of returning to politics.
Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, now super-rich thanks to Saudi business connections, have spent the past year working on their reintegration into the social A-list. They were notably NFI at last night’s Met Gala in New York but Ivanka did manage to party with a hot F1 crowd in Miami last weekend.
Trump has previously flirted with nominating Ivanka as vice-president though he quickly realised it would cause more trouble than it was worth. Kushner has already been touted as a future secretary of state and Ivanka is said to be “quietly surveying members of her inner circle about when it might make sense to re-engage with the campaign — and even whether to take a job in the administration if he wins”.
If she really wants power, she should stop being too posh to push and start working for it. She could earn daddy’s eternal gratitude and, perhaps, a future shot at the White House herself, if she steps in as his surrogate.
