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

Stormy Daniels told jurors she began dancing in clubs in high school to make money.

“[A friend] was an exotic dancer and invited me to the club to dance, and they didn’t bother checking my ID,” Daniels said, adding she could make more money in one weekend than she would “shoveling manure eight hours a day.”

Jurors appeared laser focused on Daniels as she described her upbringing -- nobody looking at their monitor, only two people appear to be jotting down notes. Otherwise, all eyes on Daniels.

Daniels testified that she began posing nude in magazines when she was 21 so she could elevate her dancing career.

“If you are just a regular girl in the club ... but if you were like the Playboy centerfold, you were the headliner,” Daniels said.

Trump, meanwhile, has his gaze fixed downward or straight ahead -- nowhere near the witness.

He is exchanging notes with his attorney Todd Blanche.

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.