Trump trial: Stormy Daniels tells (almost) all about alleged encounter with Trump

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger began the questions by asking Stormy Daniels to tell the jury about her life.

"Tell the jury a little bit about your life growing up in Louisiana," Hoffinger asked.

Donald Trump appeared to tilt his head slightly as Stormy Daniels walked by on her way to the witness stand. He then looked disinterested as she recounted her upbringing.

Daniels told the jury about how she was raised by her mother and grew up in a low-income household. She says she edited her high school newspaper and participated in 4-H.

The start of the testimony appears to be an effort to humanize Daniels -- who the jury has heard plenty about -- and make her relatable.

"I'm going to ask you to slow down a little bit," Hoffinger said.

"I have an accent still, sorry," Daniels said.

"The People call Stormy Daniels," prosecutors announced, using her stage name instead of her birth name, Stephanie Clifford.

Daniels entered the courtroom draped in all black and did not glance over at the former president as she ascended the short steps to the witness stand. Trump watched her as she navigated the courtroom.

Daniels said she is testifying pursuant to a subpoena. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is leading the questions.

During a redirect examination of Penguin Random House VP Sally Franklin, prosecutors introduced as evidence additional portions from "Trump: How to Get Rich" to highlight Trump's role in writing the book.

"That's what I decided to call it, because whenever I meet people, that's usually what they want to know from me," Trump wrote in "How to Get Rich." "You ask a baker how he makes bread. You ask a billionaire how he makes money."

Franklin also read from the acknowledgements of the book, where Trump thanks his coauthor and editor for knowing him so well -- and the epitaph where Trump quoted his mother.

In court and in filings, defense lawyers have highlighted Trump's minimal role in drafting the books compared to his ghostwriters.

Penguin Random House VP Sally Franklin continued reading quotes from another Trump book, intended by prosecutors to show in Trump's own words how he allegedly handles his finances.

"I always try to read my bills to make sure I'm not being over charged," an excerpt said.

"Periodically I ask my financial department for what I call my financial small shot," one book read. "If i didn't check up on it regularly, I would be in big financial trouble."

"And I would have no one to blame but myself," the book said.

Jurors appeared engaged as the former president's book covers flashed across the monitors in front of them.

Several jurors were following along as Franklin read the excerpts.

"Always look at the numbers yourself," Franklin read from another book.

Another one said, "For me, there is nothing worse than a computer signing checks. When people see your signature at the bottom of the check, they know you're watching them and they screw you less."

And another one from Trump's book "Think Like a Billionaire": "Always question invoices."

Trump, sitting at the defense table, appeared engaged -- watching Franklin as she read his own words back to the court and intermittently exchanging whispers and notes with attorney Todd Blanche, seated to his left.

Blanche concluded a short cross-examination by emphasizing that Franklin only read from selected pages from a small portion of Trump's books.