Stormy Daniels has dramatically broken her silence on convicted ex-President Donald Trump, demanding: Lock him up.
Speaking for the first time since White House hopeful Trump was found guilty, the former adult actress told us: “I think he should be sentenced to jail and some community service working for the less fortunate, or being the volunteer punching bag at a women’s shelter.”
Stormy told how she now feels vindicated – and warns the world ahead of Trump’s fresh bid for office: “He is completely and utterly out of touch with reality.”
Ever since stepping down from the witness box in the former president’s hush money criminal trial, the adult actress has remained in hiding, refusing to talk. But after bringing down the world’s once most powerful man, Stormy, 45, said that despite how justice has been served, she will never escape the death threats from Trump’s supporters.
She said: “You always feel like you’re the bad guy, even when you’re not just being up on that standard. Being in court was so intimidating with the jurors looking at you, but I’m glad that the stuff came out in court that wanted to come out and prove, like I said, I’ve been telling the truth the entire time. It’s it’s not over for me. It’s never going to be over for me. Trump may be guilty, but I still have to live with the legacy.”
Stormy said she was “shocked” over how quickly the jury found the former president – the first US leader ever convicted – guilty of all 34 charges saying it showed they believed her testimony. Weeks earlier she had been sat just 10 feet away from him – the first time since she sat saw him in Los Angeles in 2007 – while giving evidence.
When asked about what sentence Trump should receive, Stormy remained unsure. “I don’t know what the sentencing could be or what Trump will even understand. It’s like when you have a child, and sometimes you take the electronics away from them, but if your child is very autistic, they don’t. They don’t care. They’ll just go colour their colouring books, and then you have another child that, you know, they don’t want to go outside. You gotta ground them or like take away electronics or don’t let them have dessert. You have to find the punishment that not just matches the crime, but is fair and just, and that impacts that particular person. Who knows what that is with Trump.”
At the heart of Trump’s downfall was a $130,000 (£102,000) payment made to Stormy by Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen. It was to ensure she remained silent in the days leading up to the 2016 US election about the alleged sex she had with the businessman at a celebrity golf tournament ten years earlier.
Cohen and Trump, 77, later concocted an illegal scheme to falsify business records to cover up the reimbursement of the payment to the lawyer. During the trial’s closing arguments, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the jury that paying to silence Stormy could have “very well” been what “got President Trump elected.”
Trump won the 2016 election by beating Hillary Clinton, winning by razor-thin margins in six states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, which had not voted Republican since the 1980s. If Clinton, who Trump campaigned against with the slogan “Lock her up, had won those states, she would have sealed the presidency.
As news of his alleged one-night stand with Stormy began to emerge before his election win, the scandal thrust his presidential paramour into the international spotlight. No longer just an adult film star, Stormy has become a symbol of resistance against powerful figures attempting to suppress the truth.
While a villain many Trump supporters have wanted dead, her public fight for transparency and accountability resonated with millions, turning her into an unexpected advocate for justice. Despite the intense public scrutiny, threats, and backlash from Trump supporters, Stormy remained resolute.
Stormy and Trump first met in July 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. At that time, he was a high-profile businessman and reality TV star, while she was an established name in the adult entertainment industry. The meeting, which Stormy described as a mix of business and pleasure, eventually led to an alleged sex in Trump’s hotel suite. The businessman, by then married to Melania Trump, had just welcomed their son Barron a few months earlier.
While giving evidence about their night together, Stormy recounted details from the floors and furniture in Trump’s hotel suite to the contents of his toiletry kit in the bathroom. At one point, she threw back her arm and lifted her leg in the witness box to re-create the moment she says he posed on the bed for her, stripped down to his boxer shorts.
Stormy also gave testimony detailing how Trump likened her to his daughter Ivanka and how she spanked him with a magazine featuring him on the front cover before the alleged sex. She said that after returning from his suite’s bathroom, he had undressed.
Daniels told jurors how Trump “stood up between me and the door. Not in a threatening manner. He didn’t come at me, he didn’t rush at me. Nothing like that.” She said she blacked out while they had sex. “I had my clothes and my shoes off. I removed my bra. We were in missionary position,” she recalled.
At one point, she told the New York court, “Nobody would ever want to publicly say” that they had sex with Trump. In the years following the encounter, Stormy kept the story to herself. However, in 2011, she agreed to share her experience with In Touch Weekly for $15,000. The article never saw the light of day after Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, threatened to sue the publication.
But after a video emerged of Trump boasting how he would grab women by the genitals without their consent, the story would resurface. The footage sent his campaign into crisis, threatening to derail any chance of a 2016 election victory. Quickly, Trump and his cronies moved to silence Stormy paying her off. His election interference scheme came back to haunt him on Thursday, when, after a six-week trial, he was found guilty of all 34 criminal counts he faced.
But while Trump now faces up to four years behind bars when sentenced on July 11, for Stormy she still remains an effective prisoner in her own environment. It is a fate that now threatens to befall the seven men and five women who unanimously found Trump guilty. On Saturday Trump’s rabid MAGA mob were seen on the internet trying to hunt down the 12 jurors while issuing vile threats to them. It is a life Stormy wishes on nobody.
Stormy’s journey from a chance encounter with Trump to the centre of a national scandal has been both tumultuous and transformative. Her call for him to be jailed is a reflection of her broader commitment to justice and accountability.
Speaking to her, it is clear the adult star’s story is a testament to the power of resilience and the impact one individual can have in the fight against corruption and abuse of power. As the legal proceedings continue, her voice acts as a crucial reminder that the pursuit of justice is a fundamental pillar of the very democracy Trump has sought to destroy.
The courage and determination Stormy displayed throughout this 18-year saga will undoubtedly leave a lasting legacy in the ongoing quest for accountability and truth in American politics.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
