Donald Trump's hush-money trial in New York has heard from three witnesses in rapid-succession
The testimony of Gary Farro, a banker, has allowed the court to take a deeper dive into the $130,000 transaction paid to porn star Stormy Daniels
Rhona Graff, who worked with Donald Trump for 34 years and was his assistant, was called as the second witness in his hush-money trial in New York
Graff told the court she was in charge of all Trump's appointments and he smiled at her as she fondly described working for him for decades
Earlier, David Pecker, the ex-publisher of the National Enquirer, returned for his fourth day of testimony
Pecker told the court that potentially damaging stories about Trump were bought and buried as an "agreement between friends"
Trump is accused of trying to cover up a $130,000 (£104,500) payment to Daniels before he won the presidency in 2016
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and also denies having any sexual encounter with Daniels
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
We're now taking a 15-minute recess. Jurors, David Pecker and Donald Trump have left the room. Emil Bove tells Justice Merchan he has less than an hour left in his questioning.
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Image source, Getty ImagesWe’re now finally getting to porn star Stormy Daniels, whose hush-money payment is at the centre of this trial.
Trump's lawyer, Emil Bove, repeats what we heard from David Pecker yesterday - that the tabloid publisher wanted nothing to do with purchasing her story of an alleged affair with Trump.
Bove is also recounting Pecker’s call with Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which he told him he would not buy Daniels' story.
Cohen eventually paid Daniels for the rights to her story without American Media’s involvement.
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Image source, Getty ImagesA file photo of Karen McDougal
The cross-examination has been stuck in the weeds a bit, but Bove has been pressing Pecker about his motivations for purchasing Karen McDougal’s story.
The defence is aiming to bring out further details of the hush-money agreement, in which the former Playboy model was given a monthly column for OK and Star Magazine to help her revive her career.
Bove seems to be implying once again that Pecker was purely motivated by business interests when he decided to buy McDougal and others’ stories.
A reminder, McDougal was paid $150,000 in hush-money for her story - where she claimed to have had an affair with Trump. Trump denied the affair happened.
There's a small group of Trump supporters outside court this morning in New York.
Each day has brought a steady stream of protestors, both supportive and opposed to Trump, since the trial began last week.
They have regularly gathered in the park across the street from the courthouse.
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Image source, ReutersThe former president looks disengaged this morning, as we hear fairly dense questioning and testimony during the defence's cross-examination of David Pecker.
He is sitting slouched in his seat, occasionally shifting his head from side to side while Pecker speaks.
The former president seemed slightly exasperated as he walked in this morning after complaining to reporters in the hallway about having to sit in the cold courtroom.
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Now Bove is trying to put some distance between Trump and the first hush-money payment made to Dino Sajudin, a former doorman who wanted to sell a story about an unsubstantiated rumour that Trump had a child out of wedlock.
But Pecker never talked directly with Trump about that story, right? Bove asks.
“Yes,” Pecker agrees.
And Trump didn’t pay Sajudin himself, right? Bove asks. "No," Pecker responds.
Pecker testified earlier this week that Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, said “the boss would be very pleased” to hear American Media had purchased Sajudin’s story.
Then Bove starts to ask about Playboy model Karen McDougal, who was given $150,000 in hush-money for her allegations she had an affair with Trump.
Bove follows this same approach, asking simple yes or no questions to Pecker.
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York
Former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner believes Trump’s lawyers have two huge hurdles to clear in their cross-examination.
Again, it is the Stormy Daniels payment which is central to this trial.
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
As Emil Bove cross-examines Pecker, he seeks to downplay the tabloid publisher's attempts to help Donald Trump.
We heard from Pecker yesterday about how he worked to promote Trump’s 2016 election campaign by publishing positive stories about him and suppressing negative ones. It's a scheme known as "catch-and-kill".
Bove is continuing to ask Pecker yes or no questions that reinforce his arguments.
It made sense “from a business perspective” to run negative stories about former president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, Trump’s political opponent, right? Bove asks.
"Yes," Pecker replies.
Bove repeats the same questions for other negative headlines about Trump’s political opponents, arguing the tabloid was publishing the same content as some other media outlets with just slightly different takes that benefited the publishing company.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, ReutersMadeline Halpert
Reporting from court
David Pecker is back on the stand for cross-examination.
Emil Bove starts by asking Pecker about former Trump aide Hope Hicks, who also used to work for Pecker’s company, American Media.
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Court is now in session.
We're starting with a dispute from yesterday about whether certain text messages from National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard can be admissible as evidence.
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York
Image source, Getty ImagesA file photo of Melania and Donald Trump, taken on 6 April, 2024.
In the past, whenever an American politician faced a particularly damaging scandal, their family would dutifully appear alongside them to show a united front.
It was damage control 101 on how to respond to a PR disaster.
It’s been notable to see that Donald Trump’s family has stayed far away from this unprecedented and historic trial, instead of sitting in the rows behind the defence table.
Arguably, one reason may be that he simply doesn’t need them here because his image is cemented with the public.
Still, it’s Melania Trump’s birthday today and his campaign is letting his base know that he’s a family man.
In their latest email, Trump asks supporters to sign a card so that “together we can give the love of my life another fantastic birthday”.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York
Donald Trump just spoke to media outside the courtroom.
He starts off by wishing his wife, Melania, a "very happy birthday".
She's in Florida, he says, and he will be going there after court wraps today.
He then goes on to say yesterday "went very well in this courthouse".
"It should be over, the case is over," Trump says, and he goes on to criticise the judge.
He also brings up how cold it is inside the courtroom, something he has mentioned repeatedly.
"It's very cold in there, on purpose I believe, they don't seem to be able to get the temperature up. It shouldn't be that complicated," he says.
And with that, he walks away from the cameras and into the courtroom.
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
As we wait in court this morning, Justice Juan Merchan is still yet to rule on whether Donald Trump violated a gag order that bars him from commenting on people related to the case, including witnesses.
The prosecution has accused Trump of breaking the order at least a dozen times in social media posts and in speeches outside of the courtroom.
The lawyers raised several new instances just yesterday.
Prosecutors are asking for a fine ($1,000 per breach) and a stern warning to Trump to stop the behaviour.
Justice Merchan has already held a hearing on the issue, but another is scheduled for next Thursday.
Nominal fines aren't likely to change Trump's conduct, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani tells me.
"The bigger question is will Judge Merchan put some teeth into the order?" he asks.
Image source, ReutersDonald Trump has hopped in his motorcade outside Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan and is now on his way to the courthouse.
Trump usually speaks to the media when he gets there.
You can watch his arrival live by pressing the play button at the top of this page.
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
We'll be starting shortly with cross-examination of David Pecker, a former tabloid publisher who was involved in "catch-and-kill" schemes with Trump and his former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
If Pecker finishes his testimony today, we could see another witness take the stand.
We haven't been told who that could be.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York
Image source, Reuters/Jane RosenbergTrump's lawyer Emil Bove cross-examines witness David Pecker
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Donald Trump's hush-money trial in New York.
David Pecker, the former publisher of tabloid newspaper the National Enquirer, is back to continue his testimony about a "catch-and-kill" scheme that helped suppress negative stories about Trump during the 2016 election.
He is the first witness of the trial and it's now his fourth day on the stand. But most of that time was the prosecution asking questions. Today, it's the defence team's turn.
It should give us more insight into how Trump will fight this historic criminal trial, and what tactics his lawyers will use going forward.
Stick with us
That's it for today's live page on Trump's hush-money trial. Thanks so much for joining us.
Check back with BBC News tomorrow morning when we'll have further live coverage of the first criminal trial of a former American president.
We'll hear more from former publisher David Pecker tomorrow, but this time he will be answering questions from Trump's legal defence team.
It will be the first time the defence will be uninterrupted in its cross-examination. Don't miss it.
Wednesday's are off days for Trump's hush-money trial, but next week court will be in session without the jury.
There will be a hearing in the afternoon to discuss Trump's alleged violations of his gag order, which legally limits his ability to talk about several of the key players in his case.
This morning, prosecutors raised multiple objections about his posts online and his public statements.
They will now hash that out with the defence team and the judge on Wednesday.
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Image source, Getty ImagesAnother notable item from outside court occurred today.
Michael Cohen - Trump's ex-lawyer and a star witness for the prosecution - has now pledged to stop attacking his former employer, after Trump's attorneys accused him of baiting the former president online.
“Despite not being the gagged defendant, out of respect for Judge Merchan and the prosecutors, I will cease posting anything about Donald on my X (formerly Twitter) account,” he said in a post this morning.
Over the past week, Trump’s fixer-turned-foe launched a host of attacks on his former boss, accusing him of sleeping and panicking during his days in court.
Prosecutors have alleged that Trump has violated his gag order - which does not allow him to publicly discuss witnesses in the case - by posting attacks that targeted Cohen.
The defence team said Trump was just responding to Cohen's barbs.