The Latest | Pecker says he wanted to keep tabloid’s agreement with Trump ‘as quiet as possible’ [Video]

NEW YORK – Veteran tabloid publisher David Pecker returned to the witness stand in Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Tuesday.

Testimony in the case resumed just before midday following a morning hearing on the former president’s alleged gag order violations.

Pecker, the National Enquirer’s former publisher and a longtime friend of Trump’s, was the only witness Monday. He was expected Tuesday to tell jurors about his relationship with Trump and his efforts to help him stifle unflattering stories during the 2016 campaign.

Prosecutors say Pecker worked with Trump and Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, on a “catch-and-kill” strategy to buy up and then spike negative stories. At the heart of the case are allegations that Trump orchestrated a scheme to bury unflattering stories about his personal life that might torpedo his campaign.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in opening statements Mondaypainted competing portraits of the former president — one depicting him as someone …