Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked David Pecker what the ultimate objective was of the arrangement that involved him notifying Michael Cohen about negative stories about Trump and other women.

"What was the purpose of notifying Michael Cohen when you came upon stories like that?" Steinglass asked.

Pecker said of Cohen, "He would try to vet it himself, see if the story was true or not.”

Pecker testified that his arrangement with Trump and Cohen was not put into writing. It was essentially an agreement among friends.

This jury is getting a rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of the country's most popular tabloids through the ultimate insider.

Pecker is being frank and not mincing words. His speech is halting at times and careful, but he doesn't sugarcoat the facts — at least as he understands them. Pecker is explaining why both he and Trump benefited from him running storylines against the Clintons in the Enquirer.

Pecker said stories on former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton, were published in the Enquirer because Bill Clinton's involvement with women was another top-seller for the tabloid.

“It was of mutual benefit,” he said, to portray “Hillary Clinton as an enabler of Bill Clinton’s womanizing” and that he offered to keep doing that, which “pleased” Trump and Cohen.

Pecker is testifying about his August 2015 meeting with Trump and Cohen. When prosecutors asked Pecker how the subject of Trump accusers coming forward came up, the media businessman replied that it was common for women to call up magazines such as the National Enquirer to sell their stories, "or I might hear in the marketplace that those stories were circulated."

Trump was known as "the most eligible bachelor who dated the most beautiful women," Pecker said, appearing to ignore the fact that Trump had been married for many years at the time of the meeting.

Pecker is testifying about a August 2015 meeting at Trump Tower attended by Trump and Cohen — as well as Hope Hicks, who apparently came in and out of the room. Pecker said he received a phone call from Cohen explaining that "the boss wanted to see me."

"Most of the time when I got a call from Michael Cohen," Pecker said, "he wanted something."

Pecker said it was there that he agreed to help Trump.

"Thinking about it as I did previously, I said what I would do is I would run or publish positive stories about Mr. Trump, and I would publish negative stories about his opponents," Pecker testified.

Pecker said that he was at Trump’s presidential campaign launch in June 2015 and that he had received an invitation from Cohen to attend.

Prosecutors displayed a 2015 email from Cohen to Pecker.

Cohen wrote to invite Pecker to to Trump Tower. “As a friend, I would love if you could make it. Let me know so I can save you a seat next to me on the atrium floor. No one deserves to be there more than you.” 

Pecker said that when Trump launched "The Apprentice" and then "Celebrity Apprentice," the interest in him among the National Enquirer's readership “skyrocketed.”

Pecker added that every time the Enquirer studied which cover subjects would sell best, Trump was the No. 1 celebrity and was viewed by the public as "the boss."

Pecker went on to say he had discussed with Trump a poll the Enquirer ran about his running for president, in which 80% of the magazine’s readership said they wanted him to run. Shortly after, Trump was interviewed on NBC's "TODAY" show and cited the Enquirer poll when asked about his aspiration to run for president.

Prosecutors appear to be using Pecker's testimony partly as a way to help familiarize jurors with other major figures in Trump's orbit, including his personal lawyer Michael Cohen and former aide Hope Hicks. Cohen and Hicks are both expected to testify during this trial.