David Pecker testifies Trump was most eligible bachelor, describes his relationship with National Enquirer at trial

David Pecker testified how Donald Trump was the “most eligible bachelor who dated the most beautiful women,” which was why people came forward to sell stories on him during the ex-president’s hush money trial Tuesday.The former National Enquirer publisher was on the stand for a second day at Manhattan Supreme Court where he gave evidence about his longstanding relationship with the former president.Pecker, 72, described how he, Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen had a meeting in 2015 about what he could do to “help the campaign”.He said they came to a “mutually beneficial” agreement “amongst friends” – which benefitted Trump’s campaign and sold magazines.“I said what I would do is I would run or publish positive stories about Mr.Trump, and publish negative stories about his opponents,” Pecker told the court.“I was the person that thought there would be a lot of women to come out try to sell their stories … It is my experience that when someone runs for office like this, it’s very common for these women to call the National Enquirer and try to sell their stories,” he added.Pecker said he’d known Trump since 1999 and he had introduced him to Cohen in 2007, telling him if any “negative stories come out,” he should consult with him.The former president looked on stone-faced while his former ally answered prosecutors’ questions and jurors were shown examples of front pages from the Enquirer which Cohen had a hand in during the lead up to the 2016 presidential election.One negative story attacked Ben Carson — a Republican presidential candidate at the time — with the headline, “Bungling Surgeon Ben Carson Left sponge in patient’s brain!”Two critical headlines of Sen.

Cruz (R-TX) — also a presidential candidate — were, “Ted Cruz Shame By Porn Star,” and “Boozin’ Ted Cruz Fixin’ to Lose.”Pecker said he called Cohen right after getting a tip from a Trump Tower doorman, claiming to know about a secret...