She has said the money was to conceal a sexual dalliance, which Mr Trump denies.

“I think having them call me in and put me on the stand legitimises my story and who I am,” she said on Fox Nation’s Piers Morgan Uncensored.

Based on statements during a court appearance on Tuesday, it appears a trial in the case would not begin before early next year. Lawyers for Mr Trump have said they will seek to have the charges dismissed before then.

Asked by Mr Morgan if she would be willing to testify, Ms Daniels said, “Absolutely.”

“Any time you’re up in the public eye it’s scary,” Ms Daniels said. “I mean, I used to get scared giving an
oral book report in school, so it’s daunting, but I look forward to it. You know what I mean? Because I have nothing to hide. I’m the only one that has been telling the truth.”

Ms Daniels said if she is not called by prosecutors then “it almost feels like they’re hiding me, and people will automatically assume – I would – that, ‘Oh, she must not be a good witness, she’s not credible.”

The 44-year-old has claimed she had an affair with Mr Trump during a celebrity golf tournament at a Lake Tahoe resort in 2006. She told journalists she met Mr Trump at the tournament and was invited to dine with him at his hotel suite. In her account, they went on to have consensual sex. She was 27 at the time, and Trump was 60 and married to Melania Trump.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has alleged that Mr Trump’s effort to conceal the affair with Ms Daniels was part of a broader scheme to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by suppressing potentially negative information about himself.

At a news conference on Tuesday after Mr Trump appeared in court, Mr Bragg said prosecutors believe that Mr Trump falsified his business records as a way to cover up the election scheme, which he said was illegal under New York state election law and involved a campaign contribution that exceeded the cap set by federal law.

Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Ms Daniels told Mr Morgan that she does not believe Mr Trump deserves jail time in the case involving her – but said incarceration might be merited in other legal matters facing Trump.

If Trump is found guilty on other matters and not incarcerated, “it opens the door for other people to think they can get away with doing that and worse”, she said.

The Justice Department is also investigating the handling of classified documents found at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and efforts by him and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

(© Washington Post)

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