Trump trial: Trump hit with contempt, witnesses detail Stormy Daniels deal

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass resumed his direct examination of Karen McDougal's former attorney Keith Davidson regarding his text messages with National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard as the two were negotiating how much the publication would pay McDougal for the exclusive rights to her story alleging she'd had an affair with Donald Trump.

“I can't believe they are asking me to go back for another 25 but they are. He deal is accepted at 150k. Can u do that?” Davidson wrote on August 2, 2016.

“He just called me. F--- it. Not my money. I'll ask,” Howard responded.

Davidson told the jury that Enquirer parent AMI initially provided a contract that did not match the terms originally discussed with Howard.

“Cameron's agreement wasn't really even close to what we were expecting. Please review the red-line I just sent. Need to handle this quickly,” Davidson wrote to Howard on Aug. 5, 2016.

Davidson testified that he initially avoided interacting with Michael Cohen while negotiating the deal with AMI due to a negative interaction he had with Cohen in 2011.

“My interaction with him was not pleasant or constructive and I didn’t particularly like dealing with him, and that is why I was trying like hell to avoid talking to him,” Davidson testified regarding Cohen.

Donald Trump reentered the courtroom after the lunch break, with his son Eric Trump following a few steps behind.

Trump campaign adviser Susie Wiles and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are seated, along with Eric Trump, in the first row of the gallery behind Trump's defense table.

Judge Merchan took his seat on the bench and asked for Keith Davidson to be brought back to the witness stand so his testimony could resume.

Former President Trump has begun to remove the social media posts cited by Judge Juan Merchan in today's gag order ruling.

The judge this morning fined Trump a total of $9,000 for nine violations of the case's limited gag order, which prevents Trump from targeting potential witnesses and others involved in the case.

Trump was ordered to remove the posts in question and to pay the fine by the close of business this Friday.

Keith Davidson, the former attorney for Karen McDougal, testified that McDougal -- who said in 2016 that years earlier had had an affair with Trump -- did not actually want to tell her story publicly.

That's partially what made a deal with the National Enquirer so "attractive"-- because she would not have to, Davidson said.

"She did not want to tell her story," Davidson testified.

"Get me a price on McDougal All in. Consulting gig perhaps as a fitness expert thrown into the mix," National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard texted Davidson on July 23, 2016, in messages that were shown to the jury.

"How about 1m now. And 75K per year for next 2 years as a fitness correspondent for AMI & ur related pubs," Davidson texted.

"I'll take it to them but thinking it's more hundreds than millions," Howard responded.

"We are going to lay it on thick for her," Howard subsequently texted on July 28, 2016.

"Good. Throw in an ambassadorship for me. I am thinking Isle of Man," Davidson responded.

"That was just a joke," Davidson testified about the Isle of Man reference, saying that killing the story "would help Donald Trump's candidacy."

The attorney reiterated on the stand that the "allure of the AMI deal" was that McDougal would get paid yet she would not have to speak publicly about the alleged affair.

The proceedings then broke for lunch. Trump made no comments to reporters as he left the courtroom.