In the ongoing hush money trial of former President Donald Trump, the prosecution focused its questioning on Tuesday on the testimony of former tabloid publisher David Pecker. Pecker's account shed light on a "catch and kill" agreement between him and Trump, in which negative stories about the then-presidential candidate were bought but never published.

The trial revolves around allegations that Trump falsified business documents regarding payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He faces 34 felony counts related to mislabelling reimbursements made to his lawyer, Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 to keep silent about an alleged affair.

During Tuesday's proceedings, Pecker revealed that he had a longstanding relationship with Trump that dated back to the 1980s when he worked on the Trump Style magazine. Pecker described Trump as a friend and stated that they enjoyed a close association until 2017.

Pecker testified that in an August 2015 meeting, Trump and Cohen pressured him to "help the campaign." He agreed to be the campaign's "eyes and ears" and inform Cohen whenever anyone tried to sell unflattering stories about Trump to the National Enquirer. Cohen would then request negative stories about Trump's Republican primary opponents, such as Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

Initially, Pecker contended that stopping negative stories benefitted both the tabloid and Trump's campaign. However, he later acknowledged that it solely benefitted the Trump campaign. He also detailed the "catch and kill" process, explaining how American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer, paid a doorman $30,000 for a story alleging that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock. The doorman signed an agreement that included a clause making him liable for $1 million if he publicly disclosed the claim.

Additionally, Pecker disclosed that model Karen McDougal had approached the National Enquirer about her alleged affair with Trump. Trump himself called, and Cohen made several subsequent calls, putting pressure on Pecker to suppress the story. The National Enquirer eventually bought McDougal's story for $150,000 in order to bury it.

While the prosecution has focused on alleged malfeasance aimed at influencing the 2016 presidential election, Pecker's testimony has reminded observers that Trump was a tabloid darling long before entering the political arena.

In a separate development, Judge Juan Merchan prohibited Trump from making public comments about trial witnesses, with prosecutors accusing the former president of "willful violations" of the gag order. Trump's lawyer argued that his social media posts were responses to comments made about him, but Judge Merchan seemed skeptical. However, no determination regarding the gag order was made on Tuesday.

Despite the gag order, Trump took to his newly launched Truth Social platform during a break to criticize Judge Merchan and the trial, calling it a "kangaroo court" and questioning the constitutionality of the gag order.

As the trial continues, all eyes remain on the courtroom as both sides present their arguments and evidence, aiming to determine whether Trump's falsifications were done with the intent to commit another crime.