Stormy Daniels, the porn star at the heart of Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial, testified on Tuesday about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with the former president in a hotel penthouse suite.

Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels on the eve of his 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, when the lurid story of marital infidelity could have sunk his campaign.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger announced “The people call Stormy Daniels,” as Trump, who is seeking to recapture the White House in November, sat at the defense table in the Manhattan courtroom flanked by his lawyers, AFP reports.

What followed was detailed testimony about the sexual encounter Daniels said she had with Trump – his pajamas, his boxer shorts, the sexual position, that he did not wear a condom – all while the former president, sitting just feet away, stared on in silence, stony-faced.

Trump has denied having sex with Daniels, and his defense team sought, unsuccessfully, to have a mistrial declared.

The extraordinary courtroom face-off comes six months before election day when Trump will try to defeat Democratic President Joe Biden.

Daniels walked prosecutors through her difficult childhood in Louisiana, a stint as a stripper and her eventually joining the adult film industry.

The 45-year-old, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe where she was employed as a greeter by X-rated movie company Wicked Entertainment.

Daniels said she was 27 at the time and Trump was “probably older than my father.”

She said a member of Trump’s security detail told her the real estate tycoon wanted to have dinner with her. She was reluctant but agreed after discussing it with her publicist.

When she arrived at the penthouse where Trump was staying he emerged wearing “silk or satin pajamas which I immediately made fun of,” Daniels told the jury.

“I said ‘Does Mr Hefner know you stole his pajamas?’” she said in a reference to the outfit favored by the late Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner.

Trump changed clothes and they began talking about adult movies.

“He was very interested in a lot of the business stuff,” Daniels said.

Trump, who was married at the time to his current wife, Melania, suggested Daniels be on his hit reality television show, “The Apprentice,” she said.

Daniels said she went to the bathroom at one point and when she emerged Trump was on the bed in boxer shorts and a T-shirt.

“It startled me,” she said. “The intention was pretty clear.”

“I was not threatened verbally or physically,” Daniels said, although there was an “imbalance of power.”

She said they had brief sex on the bed “in missionary position” and Trump did not wear a condom.

“I felt ashamed I didn’t stop it, didn’t say no,” Daniels said.

Daniels said she met with Trump again on several occasions but cut off contact when it became clear she would not appear on “The Apprentice.”

After Trump announced his candidacy for president, Daniels said her publicist suggested she could sell her story and put her in touch with Keith Davidson, a Hollywood lawyer who testified previously at the trial.

“My motivation wasn’t money, it was to get the story out,” Daniels said.

She said she entered into a non-disclosure agreement in October 2016 on the eve of the presidential election negotiated by Davidson and Cohen for which she was paid $130,000.

“I couldn’t tell my story, he couldn’t tell the story,” she said.

After a lunch break, Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche asked Judge Juan Merchan to declare a mistrial, objecting to some of Daniels’ testimony, particularly her claim that she was threatened in 2011 by a man in a Las Vegas parking garage who allegedly warned her not to talk about Trump.

“It’s extremely prejudicial to insert safety concerns into a trial about business records,” Blanche said.

Merchan denied the motion, saying “I don’t think we have reached a point where a mistrial is in order.”

Trump is under a partial gag order prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses, the jury or court staff.

Merchan has already fined him $10,000 for breaching the gag order and warned Trump he may face jail time for future violations.

Gbenga Oluwafemi, purportedly the landlord and alleged leader of the suspected gang renting out 86 apartments under Dolphin Estate Bridge, Ikoyi, has refuted claims of receiving N250,000 per annum as rent.

Oluwafemi, also known as “Mopol, in a viral video posted by News Central on its X handle late Sunday, stated that there’s no estate chairman in Dolphin Estate who wouldn’t recognise him.

In a telephone conversation with the agency, Mopol said, “No estate chairman in Dolphin Estate that will say he did not know me.

“Even there are some people in power here in Lagos State that live there that know me. They knew us very well.

“The demolished blue container there this morning had been there for about 15 years now.

“The previous government did it for us there. The person who did the container Festus Keyamo was passing by and asked us what we were doing there and our survival.

“We said we are security to the street lights here. He also asked how we cope when it is raining. It was then he promised us that he would look into it and that was when the container was constructed.”

He, however, denied collecting money from anyone as rent contrary to some residents’ claims and the evidence of payments seen.

“I have never refunded any money to anybody. I don’t think I’ve… If I am collecting N250,000 from anybody I will not be in that place again,” he said.

Arrest effort
The Lagos State Government had on Saturday disclosed that it had intensified its efforts to arrest suspected gang leaders who rented out the 86 apartments.

Meanwhile, a resident who simply identified himself as Sola in the five minutes and seventeen seconds video – named one man called “Mopol” as his landlord who collected N250,000 from him.

Another resident, Johnson Kenneth, noted that he had just made a N50,000 deposit before the government moved in.

Also, a December 2022 receipt with “OLUWAFEMI” as the letterhead and phone number, being payment for N150,000 for a room was retrieved from one of the residents.

KAI chief wades in
Earlier in the video, the Commander, Kick Against Indiscipline in Lagos State, Major Olaniyi Olatunbosun Cole (retd.) described the act on the government facility as nothing but a “sabotage.”

“All the sands put under the bridge for a kind of protection were excavated and they started putting structures. It was about 86 rooms.

“You can imagine someone removing sand meant for protection to a facility, a bridge, and erecting a structure there to collect money from the people. That is sabotage,” Cole said.

Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, last Wednesday said the government discovered 86 partitioned rooms, sized 10×10 and 12×10, under the bridge.

The Coles, a prominent family of Victoria Island, Lagos, has denounced the recent purported marriage of their son, Taiwo, to actress and comedian, Wofai Ewa, in a traditional ceremony in Ugep, Cross River State.

In a statement issued by the family patriarch, Kunle Cole, which has since gone viral, the family dissociated themselves from the union, saying they were unaware of the marriage plans and did not grant consent or support.

“This serves to notify all acquaintances, family and friends that the Cole family of Victoria Island, Lagos, are not aware of any marriage ceremony of our son,Taiwo Olakitan Cole; neither did we grant permission nor support in this regard,” the statement read.

It continued, “As such, person(s) parading themselves as new members of the Cole heritage by virtue of this purported event, are not known nor accepted by the family. All publications and documents being circulated about this are to be disregarded.”

The rebuke follows circulated images and videos showing Taiwo participating in what appeared to be a traditional marriage rite with Ewa, who hails from Ugep in Cross River.

Wofai and Taiwo took to their Instagram pages on Saturday to share marriage photos.

One of the posts read, “I found my happily ever after, and I said yes !! Chai !! Love is sweet o. Thank you guys for all the love and messages.”

Wofai, who has over a million followers on Instagram, is a chef, actress and comedian.