A trial against Donald Trump over his concealment of money transfers to porn star Stormy Daniels began in New York on Monday, 15 April, the AFP news agency reported. Trump is the first ex-president in US history to be the subject of a criminal trial.

A year ago, Manhattan prosecutors charged Trump with falsifying documents to cover up the fact that he paid $130,000 to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, DW writes. Daniels claims she met the businessman at a charity golf tournament in 2006 and had a secret intimate relationship with him when Trump's wife, Melania, had just given birth to a child. The porn actress threatened to make revelations during Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. According to the indictment, the $130,000 in campaign funds was payment for her silence.

The indictment is not about the hush money itself but about the fact that Trump forged business documents 34 times between August 2015 and December 2017 to buy back negative information about himself as part of his campaign.

Regardless of how the trial ends, Donald Trump will still be able to run for president.