A former newspaper publisher has told a New York court he bought and buried negative stories about Donald Trump as part of a deal to help him become president.
David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, has been giving evidence at Mr Trump's "hush money" trial.
The former president is accused of falsifying business records to disguise payments made to keep people quiet during the 2016 election campaign.
The court on Tuesday (local time) heard more evidence about a "catch and kill" deal that Mr Pecker says he struck with Mr Trump and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
It also heard testimony about the role of Australian editor Dylan Howard, who was working for Mr Pecker at the time.
Here are the key moments from the court on Tuesday.
Trump's 'tabloid king' friend returns to the stand
Mr Pecker briefly gave evidence on Monday before the session ended so a juror could deal with a dental emergency.
The 72-year-old, a longtime friend of Mr Trump's formerly known as the "tabloid king", returned to the stand on Tuesday.
He came across as a deferential and polite elderly man, neatly dressed in business attire for his day in court, with carefully coiffed silver hair. But what he testified about were the cut-throat techniques of the tabloid newspaper world.
He spoke of a plan hatched with Mr Trump and Mr Cohen during a 2015 meeting at Trump Tower, when he offered to be the Trump campaign's "eyes and ears". He told Mr Trump he would look out for people selling negative stories about him, so they could be bought and suppressed, he said.
Mr Pecker said the Enquirer later paid $US30,000 to a doorman at Trump Tower, Dino Sajudin, who claimed Mr Trump fathered a child with a maid.
Mr Pecker said it turned out the story wasn’t true. But if it were, and if he had published it, "it would probably be the biggest sale of the National Enquirer since the death of Elvis Presley", he said.
He decided to buy and bury it "because of the potential embarrassment it would have to the campaign and Mr Trump".
Mr Pecker said he worked closely with Mr Cohen.
"If there was any rumours in the marketplace about Mr Trump … I would call Michael Cohen directly," he told the court.
Mr Cohen is expected to testify during the trial. The prosecution alleges Mr Trump also reimbursed Mr Cohen for a $US130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, to stop her speaking about an alleged sexual encounter (which Mr Trump says never happened).
The editor from Geelong told to 'keep this as quiet as possible'
Mr Pecker also gave evidence about the role of one of his top editors, Australian-born journalist Dylan Howard.
Mr Howard had earlier worked as a football reporter for Channel Seven in Melbourne. He left the network shortly after he filed a controversial report on drug use by AFL players in 2007.
The story was based on stolen medical records that Seven paid for, and the AFL Players’ Association threatened to boycott the network after it aired.
Mr Howard, who hails from Geelong, later moved to the US and worked for a range of American outlets before becoming the National Enquirer's editor-in-chief.
He was in that role during Mr Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
"I told him that we were going to try to help the campaign," Mr Pecker said. "And to do that, we want to keep this as quiet as possible."
Mr Howard was asked to tell other senior employees that stories about Mr Trump should be vetted and brought to Mr Pecker’s attention.
The court heard it was Mr Howard who first alerted Mr Pecker to the doorman's claims.
“He heard from one of his sources that Dino was in the market selling a story that Donald Trump fathered an illegitimate girl with a maid at Trump Tower, and the maid worked in Mr Trump’s penthouse," Mr Pecker told the court.
Mr Howard was asked to check out the story, Mr Pecker said.
He was also tasked with drawing up a contract for the doorman, and agreeing to the $US30,000 deal to buy the rights to the story.
Mr Pecker also began giving evidence about Mr Howard's dealings with Karen McDougal, the former Playboy playmate who claimed she had an affair with Mr Trump.
After receiving "a call from one of his sources in California", Mr Howard was sent to Los Angeles to check out the story in June 2016. While there, he conducted an interview with Ms McDougal lasting two to three hours, Mr Pecker told the court.
Mr Pecker is expected to continue his testimony when court resumes later in the week.
The court heard on Monday that Mr Howard had returned to Australia to live, and he had a spinal condition that could prevent international travel.
It is unclear whether that means he will not testify.
Trump accused of 'angling' for jail with his social posts
Tuesday's session began with an argument over a court-imposed "gag order" that Mr Trump is accused of breaching.
The order prohibits him from publicly criticising witnesses, court officials and their relatives.
Prosecutor Chris Conroy took the court through 10 of Mr Trump's public statements, including social media posts, that he said violated the order.
They included an April 10 post on his Truth Social platform that referred to two witnesses – porn star Stormy Daniels and former lawyer Michael Cohen – as "sleaze bags".
Mr Conroy said Mr Trump "knows what he's not allowed to do and he does it anyway".
Under New York law, Mr Trump could be sent to jail for a month if he's found to have breached the order. Mr Conroy said Mr Trump "seems to be angling for that".
Instead, Mr Conroy has asked the court to fine Mr Trump $US10,000. The judge said he would decide at a later date.
Judge to Trump's lawyer: 'You're losing all credibility'
In defending Mr Trump's use of social media, his lawyer Todd Blanche argued the former president was "allowed to respond to political attacks".
But the judge said Mr Blanche produced no evidence to support his argument. He repeatedly asked Mr Blanche for specific examples of political attacks to which Mr Trump was responding.
"You've presented nothing," Judge Juan Merchan said.
"I've asked you eight or nine times, show me the exact post he was responding to. You've not even been able to do that once.
"I have to tell you right now, you're losing all credibility with the court."
Afterwards, Mr Trump took to Truth Social to post another criticism:
"Everybody is allowed to talk and lie about me, but I am not allowed to defend myself. This is a kangaroo court and the judge should recuse himself!"
The trial is scheduled to resume on Thursday (local time).
