Image: Donald Trump pictured with his lawyer Todd Blanche. Pic: Reuters
1. The secret recording
“So, what do we got to pay for this? 150?” Donald Trump is heard to say in a conversation with his lawyer Michael Cohen, which he didn’t know was being recorded.
He was referring to the $150,000 (£117,000) hush money paid to Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed she had a 10-month affair with Trump – which he denied.
The payment, and Trump’s discussion of it, helped establish the hush money scheme and Trump’s involvement.
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2. The president and the porn star
Stormy Daniels‘ detailed evidence – at times excruciating – demonstrated to the jury why Donald Trump would have wanted to silence her story.
They met at a 2006 celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and had a photo taken together. He invited her to his hotel suite where they had sex, although Trump denies it.
Image: Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels
Image: Stormy Daniels (pictured in 2018) said she had sex with Trump in Nevada. Pic: Reuters
She spanked him “on the butt” with a rolled-up magazine and they had sex after she came out of the bathroom to find him stripped to his boxer shorts and a T-shirt.
When they parted, he said to her: “It was great. Let’s get together again, honey bunch.”
3. David Pecker
The former publisher of the National Enquirer magazine spoke of the “catch and kill” scheme he operated to buy negative stories about Donald Trump and bury them.
Image: David Pecker said he would stop negative stories about Trump. Pic: Reuters
He told Trump in a 2015 meeting that he’d be his “eyes and ears” and he put his money where his mouth was, buying McDougal’s silence for $150,000.
Mr Packer’s testimony spoke to Trump’s direct knowledge of, and involvement in, a hush money scheme.
4. ‘Just Do It’ and ‘Push it out past the election’
Michael Cohen testified that Donald Trump told him to “just do it” when it came to paying Stormy Daniels’ hush money.
In late October 2016, she had grown frustrated by a delay in the payment and threatened to take her story to a newspaper.
Cohen said that Trump told him: “There’s no reason to keep this thing out there. Just do it.” It reinforced evidence of Trump’s direction of the hush money scheme.
He said Trump told him of the Stormy Daniels story. “Push it out past the election, because if I win, it has no relevance and if I lose I don’t really care.”
It was a killer line that demonstrated the intent to commit election fraud and, so, elevated the crime to a felony.
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1:39
Trump: ‘This is a rigged trial’
5. The ‘smoking gun’ bank statement
Handwritten notes of Allen Weisselberg, Trump’s chief financial officer, show the sums adding up Michael Cohen’s reimbursement.
It was the $130,000 hush money plus add-ons, all multiplied by two to cover tax liability as Cohen was in the 50% tax bracket.
It showed $420,000 (£328,000) to be paid in multiple cheques of $35,000 each.
Image: Weisselberg’s handwritten note
Image: Michael Cohen (right) was Trump’s lawyer and ‘fixer’. Pic: AP
The figures are written on Cohen’s First Republic bank statement, the very one that showed his $130,000 wire transfer to Stormy Daniels’ attorney.
Cohen testified that he saw Mr Weisselberg write on the document and that Trump approved the reimbursement plan.
6. The ‘body man’ photo
The defence pounced on a phone call on 24 October 2016, in which Michael Cohen said he’d discussed the Stormy Daniels hush money with Donald Trump.
They pointed out the call was to the phone of Trump’s aide, Keith Schiller, after Cohen had been texting him about harassment phone calls and that his claim to have spoken to Trump in a 96-second phone call was “a lie”.
Image: The trial shown a video grab of Trump with Schiller around the exact time of the call
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However, the prosecution found a photograph of Schiller and Trump together, around the exact time of the call.
It undermined what the defence clearly saw as a ‘gotcha’ moment in their bid to discredit Cohen.
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0:56
What happens next for Donald Trump?
7. The trusted aide
Hope Hicks was campaign press secretary to Donald Trump in 2016.
She testified that he told her Michael Cohen had paid off Stormy Daniels to “protect him [Trump] from a false allegation” out of the “kindness of his own heart”.
Image: Hope Hicks was Trump’s press secretary. Pic: AP
Ms Hicks told the court she thought that would have been out of character for Cohen.
“I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person or selfless person,” she said.
From a trusted aide, her cutting assessment of Cohen challenged the word of her former boss and weakened Trump’s defence.
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died aged 41.
In a statement to Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Friday, her family said she took her own life in the Perth suburb of Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said.
“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.
“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Image: Pic: AP
Police said emergency services received reports of an unresponsive woman at a property in Neergabby on Friday night.
“Police and St John Western Australia attended and provided emergency first aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene,” a police spokeswoman said.
“The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious.”
Sexual assault claims
Image: Prince Andrew has denied all claims of wrongdoing. File pic: Reuters
Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.
In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.
She stuck by her version of events until the end
Of the many dozens of victims of Jeffrey Epstein, it was Virginia Giuffre who became the most high-profile.
She was among the loudest and most compelling voices, urging criminal charges to be brought against Epstein, waving her right to anonymity in 2015.
She told how he and Ghislaine Maxwell groomed her and “passed around like a platter of fruit” to be used by rich and powerful men.
But her name and face became known around the world after she accused Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old.
The picture of her together with the prince and Maxwell at the top of a staircase, his hand around her waist, is the defining image of the whole scandal.
Prince Andrew said he had no memory of the occasion. But Giuffre stuck by her version of events until the end.
‘An incredible champion’
Sigrid McCawley, Ms Giuffre’s attorney, said in a statement that she “was much more than a client to me; she was a dear friend and an incredible champion for other victims”.
“Her courage pushed me to fight harder, and her strength was awe-inspiring,” she said. “The world has lost an amazing human being today.”
“Rest in peace, my sweet angel,” she added.
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Dini von Mueffling, Ms Giuffre’s representative, also said that “Virginia was one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the honour to know”.
“Deeply loving, wise, and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims,” she added. “She adored her children and many animals.
“She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words.
“It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”
Ms Giuffre said at the end of March she had four days to live after a car accident, posting on social media that “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure”. She was discharged from hospital eight days later.
Raised mainly in Florida, she said she was abused by a family friend early in life, which led to her living on the streets at times as a teenager.
She said that in 2000, she met Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Image: Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US Department of Justice
Ms Giuffre said Maxwell then introduced her to Epstein and hired her as his masseuse, and said she was sex trafficked and sexually abused by him and associates around the world.
‘A survivor’
After meeting her husband in 2002, while taking massage training in Thailand at what she said was Epstein’s behest, she moved to Australia and had a family.
She founded the sex trafficking victims’ advocacy charity SOAR in 2015, and is quoted on its website as saying: “I do this for victims everywhere.
“I am no longer the young and vulnerable girl who could be bullied. I am now a survivor, and nobody can ever take that away from me.”
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
Donald Trump has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the Pope’s funeral, Vatican sources have told Sky News.
The US and Ukrainian presidents had a “very productive discussion”, according to a White House Official, and have also agreed to hold further talks after the service.
They are among world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, who are attending the funeral of Pope Francis.
There was applause from some of those gathered in St Peter’s Square when the Ukrainian leader walked out.
The former British ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy.
Image: Trump and Zelenskyy meet for first time since Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine, and is their first face-to-face meeting after a very public row between the presidents at the White House in February.
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The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish Armed Forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening, in a post on X.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” with “most of the major points agreed” – as he called for the two sides to meet.
Shortly after arriving in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral, the US president said high-level officials should now meet to “finish [the deal] off”.
“A good day in talks and meetings with Russiaand Ukraine,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off’.
“Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”
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2:26
Ukraine-Russia peace talks explained
Throughout the week, the US president has criticised both Ukraine and Russia for failing to agree to a peace deal.
On Wednesday, he accused Mr Zelenskyy of harming talks on Truth Social, saying “the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE”.
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A day later, after nine people were killed in Kyiv after a Russian missile and drone strike, Mr Trump said: “Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”
The president and other officials have also threatened to withdraw from negotiations if no progress is made toward a deal.
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2:24
Putin-Witkoff meeting
The talks allowed Russia and the United States to “further bring their positions closer together” on “a number of international issues”, a Kremlin aide said.
Speaking earlier on the flight to Italy, Mr Trump said he hadn’t been fully briefed on Mr Witkoff and Mr Putin’s meeting – but added it was a “pretty good meeting”.
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it would not accept a deal conceding land or handing over sovereignty to Russia.
However, Mr Trump said in an interview with TIME magazine that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” describing the region as a place where Moscow has “had their submarines” and “the people speak largely Russian”.
“Zelenskyy understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” he added. “It’s been with them long before Trump came along.”
When asked on Friday about Mr Trump’s comments, Mr Zelenskyy did not want to comment but repeated that recognising occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian is a red line.