Donald Trump is the first US president to be tried on criminal charges – and could face prison if convicted. Trump allegedly falsified the financial transaction behind the $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He denies 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in spring 2023.
Here’s what you need to know about the case and what’s happening today:
16 May: what’s happening today
Michael Cohen, once one of Donald Trump’s most loyal lieutenants and enforcers, will return to the stand this morning to be cross-examined by the former president’s lawyers in his historic criminal trial. He is the the star witness in the case against Trump.
Earlier in the week, Cohen testified that Trump instructed him just weeks before the 2016 presidential election to bury Stormy Daniels’s account of an alleged sexual liaison, demanding that he “just take care of it”.
Cohen is core to the case against Trump, because prosecutors allege that the former president cast reimbursement for a $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels as legal expenses for Cohen, constituting falsification of business records.
Cohen and Trump’s relationship soured after Trump won the US presidential election in 2016 and did not offer Cohen a role in his administration.
The entire hush-money case is likely to succeed or fail on whether jurors believe Cohen’s account, or the defense claims that he is an “admitted liar” motivated by publicity and attention.
Court is scheduled to begin at 9.30am ET and end at 4pm today.
Key characters and facts
Trump hush-money trial status: Trump pleaded not guilty; the trial began on 15 April 2024.
Charges: 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.
Hush-money case summary: The case involves a hush-money scheme during the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 to the adult film star Stormy Daniels to quash her story about having an extramarital affair with the former president. Trump has denied the affair took place. Prosecutors accuse the former president of illegally reimbursing Cohen for the hush-money payment by falsely classifying the transaction, executed by the Trump Organization, as legal expenses.
Verdict before election? Likely.
Key moments in the trial so far
14 May: Michael Cohen, the star witness in hush-money trial walked through key elements of the case as defense lawyers sought to undermine his credibility.
13 May: Michael Cohen testifies that Trump was intimately involved in hush-money deal and received real-time updates on Stormy Daniels.
10 May: Trump appeared frustrated in court while possible Cohen testimony looms.
9 May: Trump attorneys sought to cast doubt on the account of alleged tryst – but Stormy Daniels refused to concede any inconsistencies.
7 May: Stormy Daniels undercut some of Trump’s defenses as his lawyer suggested Daniels has a propensity to embellish.
6 May: prosecutors moved on to the alleged falsification of business records to cover up hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, after previously calling witnesses who described a conspiracy to kill the story.
3 May: Hope Hicks took the stand, describing 2016 Trump campaign staffers’ panic when a recording emerged in which Trump bragged about groping women and the former president’s complete control over the campaign.
2 May: Keith Davidson, a lawyer who negotiated payments, testified.
30 April: Trump fined $9,000 over gag order violations as judge warns of jail time.
26 April: Pecker’s testimony presented a granular look into a hush-money scheme that prosecutors allege was meant to sway the 2016 election in the real estate mogul’s favor.
25 April: Pecker testified about his role in buying a story from the model Karen McDougal about an alleged affair with Trump.
23 April: David Pecker, the National Enquirer publisher, said he was Trump’s “eyes and ears” during the 2016 election campaign.
22 April: In its opening statement, the prosecution said Trump “orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election” in his efforts to cover up an alleged affair with the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
19 April: The court finally chose all 18 jurors.
18 April: Twelve jurors were selected for after two seated jurors were removed earlier in the day.
15 April: Trump’s hush-money trial begins. He is the country’s first president to face a criminal trial.
