David Pecker
(Photo : Francois Durand/Getty Images)
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker took the witness stand in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial this week.

Tabloid publisher David Pecker was back on the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money case in Manhattan.

Prosecutors started by asking him to talk about his relationship with Trump.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked him to identify him in the courtroom.

Pecker smiled, pointed over to the defense table and said, according to CNN, "He's sitting, wearing, I think, a dark blue suit."

Trump reportedly smirked at Pecker as he pointed to Trump.

He testified that Trump would feed him stories from his TV show, "The Apprentice"  that he could publish in his magazines free of charge, the Associated Press reported.

Pecker said his contact with Trump lawyer Michael Cohen increased after Trump announced his run for the White House.

He said he was invited to a meeting about how he could help the campaign. Pecker said he would continue running negative stories about Bill and Hillary Clinton and publish positive articles about Trump.

Pecker testified that he alerted Cohen about women trying to sell stories about Trump so that he could buy and not publish them.

He was asked questions about the National Enquirer allegedly squashing unflattering stories about Trump during the 2016 campaign.

Pecker said they had an agreement but it was not put into writing.

Prosecutors say Pecker, a longtime Trump friend, worked with Cohen to buy up and then kill negative stories about the businessman.

They allege that Trump sought to illegally influence the 2016 race by preventing damaging stories about him from becoming public.

Trump allegedly made payments to kill any coverage of an alleged affair Trump had with adult film star Stormy Daniels.

The accounting of those payments is the basis for the prosecution's case against Trump.

Trump is charged with 34 felonies for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up payments made to Daniels. He could face up to four years in prison if convicted.

The former president has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the case.

On Monday, Pecker was questioned about the National Enquirer's use of "checkbook journalism," which includes paying sources for stories.

Pecker has been granted immunity in exchange for his testimony, according to the Associated Press.

Other prosecution witnesses expected to be called are former press aid Hope Hicks, Cohen and Daniels.

It's unclear if the defense would call on Trump to testify, which would allow the prosecution to cross-examine him.

A recent poll finds that just 35 percent of U.S. adults say Trump did something illegal in the case.

During opening statements, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the jury the is "about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up."

Trump's attorney Todd Blanche told the jury, "President Trump is innocent" and that "none of this was a crime."

Also on Tuesday, prosecutors are expected to ask the judge to hold Trump in contempt over posts on his Truth Social platform. They claim they violate a gag order in the case.