'To protect Donald Trump': Hush money trial witness details deals with Playboy model and porn actress

A key witness in Donald Trump'scriminal trialtestified Thursday about his role in hush money payments to a porn actress and a Playboy model the former president allegedly had affairs with — and Trump's plan to make sure other negative stories about him never saw the light of day.

David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, said Trump at one point sought to buy the rights to Karen McDougal's allegations of a monthslong affair with him, as well as other information the Enquirer had on him in its archives. Trump has denied McDougal's claims.

Pecker said that he eventually backed out of the deal for fear he could get into legal trouble — and that when he heard about adult film star Stormy Daniels' claim of a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, he decided he couldn't front any more cash to keep his longtime friend out of trouble.

Daniels, he said, came forward as Trump's campaign was reeling from the emergence of the so-called “Access Hollywood” tape in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign. The tape included a hot mic moment from 2005 that caught Trump, then the star of “The Apprentice,” saying he could kiss and grope women without their consent because “when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

He said Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard told him that Daniels was looking for $125,000 for her story, which he didn't want to pay because he'd already shelled out $180,000 to quash two other stories that could have damaged Trump's campaign. "I am not a bank," he told Howard in a text message.

He said he reached out to Trump attorney Michael Cohen and told him about Daniels' claim and advised him that he should pay her. He said Cohen responded that the Enquirer should pay her.