travel calm medication

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Brand name: Travacalm Original TM

Active ingredients: dimenhydrinate + hyoscine hydrobromide + caffeine

What it is used for

For the prevention of travel sickness .

How to take it

The way to take this medicine is: Oral. This medicine is taken by mouth.

• Store below 30 degrees Celsius
• Protect from Light
• Protect from Moisture
• Shelf lifetime is 3 Years.

You should seek medical advice in relation to medicines and use only as directed by a healthcare professional.

Always read the label. If symptoms persist see your healthcare professional.

Visual appearance

Flat white tablet with a half score on one side. 9.0 mm diameter

Do I need a prescription?

What is the medicines and poisons schedule.

This medicine is available from a pharmacy without prescription. It is Schedule 2 : Pharmacy Medicine. open tool tip to find out more

This medicine contains the active ingredients:

• dimenhydrinate + hyoscine hydrobromide + caffeine

If you are over 65 years of age, there may be specific risks and recommendations for use of this medicine. Please discuss your individual circumstances with your pharmacist, doctor or health professional. For more information read our page on medication safety for older people .

Reporting side effects

You can help ensure medicines are safe by reporting the side effects you experience.

You can report side effects to your doctor, or directly at www.tga.gov.au/reporting-problems

Need more information?

These trusted information partners have more on this topic.

Top results

Travel sickness self-care - MyDr.com.au

Travel or motion sickness may occur in any type of moving vehicle, such as a car, boat or plane. Find out what products are available for travel sickness.

Read more on myDr website

Motion sickness - MyDr.com.au

Many people eventually grow out of motion sickness (travel sickness), but for those who don’t there are treatments available and things you can do to help prevent it and ease the symptoms.

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Hyoscine hydrobromide (Kwells and Joy-Rides) - Other brand names: Kwells Kids, Travel Calm, Scopoderm

Find out how hyoscine hydrobromide treats travel sickness and how to take it.

• About hyoscine hydrobromide
• Who can and cannot take it
• How and when to take it
• Side effects
• Pregnancy, breastfeeding and fertility
• Taking it with other medicines and herbal supplements
• Common questions

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Travacalm Original

Generic Name: Caffeine; Dimenhydrinate; Hyoscine hydrobromide Product Name: Travacalm Original

Travacalm Original  is indicated for prevention of motion sickness in adults and children greater or equal to 4 years.

Dimenhydrinate, one of the active ingredients of Travacalm Original, is an antihistamine with central anticholinergic effects and is highly effective in the prevention of motion sickness.

Hyoscine hydrobromide also has strong anticholinergic effects.

Caffeine is used to counteract the sedative side effects of the other two ingredients, dimenhydrinate and hyoscine hydrobromide.

Dose advice

Dose information:

• Travacalm Original tablets may be taken with or without food.
• Travacalm Original tablets may be crushed and mixed with water, jam or honey before giving to children or those with swallowing difficulties.
• Travacalm Original is most effective when use for prevention but may have some effectiveness once symptoms are present.
• Travacalm Original may cause drowsiness. If you are affected, do not drive or operate machineries as your alerness may be compromised.
• Avoid drinking alcohol or other medications that may potentiate the sedating effects of Travacalm Original.

Contraindications:

Travacalm Original should not be used

• if you have known allergy to active ingredients of Travacalm Original, dimenhydrinate, hyoscine hydrobromide, caffeine
• in children under 2 years old
• if you are lactose intolerant

Precautions:

You must tell your doctor if you

• have glaucoma
• have emphysema
• have chronic pulmonary disease
• have shortness of breath
• have difficulty in breathing
• have difficulty in urination due to enlargement of the prostat gland
• have urinary retention
• have acute porphyria
• have epilepsy or seizure disorders
• are taking any other medicines, including those that you buy without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket or health food store
• are pregnant
• are breasfeeding or intend to breastfeed

Use in pregnancy ( Category B2 ):

Despite it is consider safe to use Travacal original during pregnancy, you should check with your doctor before using Travacalm Original.

Small amounts of Travacalm Original active ingredients are excreted in breast milk. Travacalm Original should not be given to breastfeeding mothers unless the benefits of therapy outweigh the potential risks.

Travacalm Original is Schedule 2 .

Common side effects

All medicines have side effects. Most commonly the side effects are minor, however some can be more serious. Usually the benefits of taking a medication outweigh the associated side effects. Your doctor would have considered these side effects before starting you on Travacalm original.

Common side effects are those which occur in more than 1% of patients given Travacalm Original. These include:

• Blurred vision
• Incoordination
• Palpitations
• Low blood presure

Uncommon side effects

Side effects which occur in less than 0.1% of patients given Travacalm original are considered uncommon. If you experience any of the listed side effects, or any other symptoms which appear abnormal or unusual, please tell your doctor.

• blood dyscrasias (prolonged therapy)
• fixed drug erruption
• Australian Medicines Handbook. Dimenhydrinate. January 2008 [cited 2008 September 7]. Available from: [ URL Link ]
• Australian Medicines Handbook. Hyoscine hydrobromide. January 2008 [cited 2008 September 7]. Available from: [ URL Link ]
• MIMS Online. Travacalm Original. [cited 2008 September 7]. Available from: [ URL Link ]

For further information talk to your doctor.

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Travacalm Travel Sickness Original 10 Tablets

Description:

Use TravaCalm Original Tablets for the prevention of travel sickness.

The triple active formula is specially formulated with two ingredients to help prevent travel sickness, as well as caffeine to help counteract drowsiness. TravaCalm contains a combination of dimenhydrinate, hyoscine hydrobromide and caffeine. Dimenhydrinate is an antihistamine that has an anti-vomiting effect. Hyoscine hydrobromide is an anticholinergic drug. Anticholinergics have a wide variety of actions and are well known for their use in the prevention of travel sickness. Dimenhydrinate is longer acting than hyoscine hydrobromide. Both ingredients may cause drowsiness. The addition of caffeine helps to counteract the drowsiness’s, itchy nose & runny nose.

TravaCalm Original is for the prevention of travel sickness when travelling by car, boat, ship or plane. 

Suitable for children aged 4 years and over.

Ingredients:

Each tablet contains: Dimenhydrate 50mg, Hyoscine hydrobromide 200 mcg, Caffeine 20mg Acacia, Hydrogenated vegetable oil, Lactose monohydrate, Magnesium stearate, Wheat starch

Usage Directions:

Take 30 minutes before departure.

Adults: 1 or 2 tablets. Repeat four to six hourly if necessary (do not exceed 4 tablets in 24 hours).

Children: Not recommended for children under 4 years of age. 4 to 7 years take half a tablet. 8 to 13 years take one tablet. Repeat six to eight hourly if necessary (do not exceed three doses in 24 hours).

Store in a cool dry environment.

Store below 30°C Protect from light and moisture

Always read the label and follow the directions for use. If symptoms persist, talk to your healthcare professional. Keep out of reach of children.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist before use, if you are pregnant or likely to become pregnant.

While using this product, it may cause drowsiness if affected do not drive a vehicle or operate heavy machinery.

Avoid alcohol. Contains lactose.

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1. Oosterveld J Travel Med 1995; 2182-185. Graudins L. Aust Prescr 2009;32:61–3

Anti-Anxiety Medication and Flying

Attempts to medicate flight anxiety away are likely to backfire..

Posted July 15, 2014 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

• What Is Anxiety?
• Find a therapist to overcome anxiety

Anti- anxiety medication to reduce flight anxiety backfires. The temporary—and generally inadequate—relief gained comes with a high long-term cost. Anti-anxiety medications prevent anxious fliers from getting used to flying. They increase the anxious flier's sensitivity to the plane’s noises and motions. They impact the person’s memory and ability to learn. They cause psychomotor impairment. And, they are addictive.

According to research at the Stanford University School of Medicine, though the person taking anti-anxiety medication may feel more relaxed psychologically, there is increased arousal physiologically. “Alprazolam increases physiological activation under acute stress conditions and hinders therapeutic effects of exposure in flying phobia .”

In this research study, 28 anxious fliers took two flights. On the first flight, half received alprazolam (generic Xanax) and half received a placebo .

Those taking alprazolam reported significantly reduced levels of anxiety compared with those taking a placebo during the first flight. However, their heart rate (114 bpm) and breathing rate (22.7 breaths/min) were much higher than in the group that had taken a placebo.

On a second flight a week later without medication, 71 percent of those who had taken alprazolam on the first flight had significantly increased anxiety, an increased heart rate (123 bpm), a desire to leave the plane, and panic. Commenting on this research in an article in Clinical Psychiatry News, Shanna Treworgy, Psy.D., of the Dartmouth Geisel Medical School, said that though there may be reduced anxiety in the moment, benzodiazepines cause increased long-term anxiety reactions. This, she reported, has been "documented in both animal and human studies.”

An article in Clinical Psychiatry News says, "Widespread long-term use of benzodiazepines for anxiety remains a reality, despite guidelines that recommend against the practice.” Dominic Candido, who teaches psychiatry at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, says the use of benzodiazepines "significantly diminishes the effects" of treatment for anxiety. Short-term relief is, he says, "often at long-term detriment to the patient.”

Taken as prescribed, anti-anxiety medications do not adequately relieve flight anxiety. During flight, when the prescribed dose fails to provide relief, an anxious flier—perhaps in a state of panic—is likely to take more and, perhaps, to combine it with alcohol . Combining anti-anxiety medication with alcohol is unsafe. A news article about the excessive in-flight use of Xanax by actress Winona Ryder is at this link .

On the other hand, those who had taken a placebo on the first flight showed significant improvement. Having gained some degree of desensitization during the first flight, they now reported less anxiety.

In a New York Times article on flight phobia, psychiatrist Richard A. Friedman, M.D. wrote, "If you think you can outsmart your phobia with anti-anxiety medications like Valium and Klonopin, forget about it; they might numb you during an acute panic attack, but they will not erase your phobia. In fact, they could get in the way of therapy because they impede new learning, which is the essence of curing phobias. To kick a travel phobia, you have to fight fire with fire; you have to tolerate some anxiety to get rid of it. No shortcuts.”

Captain Tom Bunn, LCSW , is an airline pilot and author who has dedicated 30 years to the development of effective methods for treating flight phobia.

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Claustrophobia Medication and Tips to Make Travel More Enjoyable

Daniel B. Block, MD, is an award-winning, board-certified psychiatrist who operates a private practice in Pennsylvania.

• Medications
• Overcoming Triggers

For people with claustrophobia , which involves an intense, irrational fear of enclosed spaces, an upcoming trip might bring on feelings of anxiety rather than excitement. Here are ways to help manage your symptoms with claustrophobia medication and other coping techniques, making your travel more enjoyable.

Claustrophobia Medication

Before embarking on a long trip, see your healthcare provider or therapist for guidance. Even if you don't normally take medication for your claustrophobia, they may prescribe a low dose of anti-anxiety medication to ease your tension.

Two types of medication often used to reduce travel-related anxiety are benzodiazepines and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Benzodiazepines reduce anxiety fairly quickly by slowing the central nervous system while SSRIs take a bit longer to work as they block serotonin reabsorption.

It's important to pay close attention to your provider's instructions for using claustrophobia medication. You may need to start taking pills several days before you travel, for instance, to allow them to work. Your provider might also recommend that you avoid alcohol or follow other safety precautions.

What You Should Know About Taking Benzodiazepines for Anxiety

Teens, young adults, and cocaine and heroin users have an elevated risk of abusing benzodiazepines . If you fall into one of these categories, talk with your provider about other medication options.

Additionally, the risk of overdose increases when benzodiazepines are combined with other drugs, such as opioids. So, tell your provider if you are taking any other substances, whether legal or illegal.

Overcoming Travel-Related Claustrophobia Triggers

Certain types of travel can trigger claustrophobia symptoms. Here are a few to consider, as well as ways to overcome them.

Air travel can be difficult if you have claustrophobia. There are a few things you can do to make yourself feel more comfortable while on a plane. For example, if you have a fear of heights (acrophobia), choose an aisle seat. If you have a fear of being stuck on the plane, choose a seat toward the front so you can disembark quickly.

Long road trips can also be uncomfortable for people with claustrophobia. But one benefit of this travel method is that driving gives you the opportunity to stop and get out of the car when needed. Taking frequent stretch breaks, dividing long drives into shorter segments, and choosing good travel companions can help you relax while on the road.

While maybe used less frequently, train travel is still a mode of transport to consider—especially for people who also have aerophobia (a fear of flying ). Train travel affords many luxuries to accommodate your fear that flights do not. This includes having more legroom, larger seats, and the ability to walk around at will.

Cruise Ships

If you have claustrophobia, you might worry about being confined in the small cabins on a ship. However, modern ships are virtual floating cities, filled with a great deal of open space. Choosing a comfortable cabin and learning your way around the ship are key to avoiding claustrophobia at sea.

Bus companies provide a low-cost alternative to flights or trains. However, small seats, minimal legroom, and the prospect of spending hours in close contact with strangers can be challenges for people with claustrophobia. Traveling on less popular routes and at odd times can help you cope with a long-distance bus ride.

Other Ways to Cope With Claustrophobia While Traveling

A health professional can offer much more than claustrophobia medication to help alleviate your intense sense of fear during travel. They can teach you guided visualization , for instance, and other relaxation techniques to calm your nerves while in transition.

Take the time to practice your new skills before your trip, as some exercises take several days to master.

Also, if possible, travel with a supportive friend or relative . They can help you work through the anxiety, guide you through relaxation exercises, or simply keep you distracted. Your companion can also help manage details such as checking luggage, which you may feel uncomfortable handling.

Claustrophobia can impact travel in a variety of ways. With a bit of advance planning, however, there is no reason that it should prevent you from seeing the world.

Cleveland Clinic. Claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces) .

Department of Justice/Drug Enforcement Administration. Drug fact sheet: Benzodiazepines .

National Institute on Drug Abuse. Benzodiazepines and opioids .

Cleveland Clinic. Aerophobia (fear of flying) .

• American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th Ed.) . Washington, DC: Author.

By Lisa Fritscher Lisa Fritscher is a freelance writer and editor with a deep interest in phobias and other mental health topics.

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How to manage a fear of flying and flying anxiety

Peer reviewed by Dr Sarah Jarvis MBE, FRCGP Last updated by Emily Jane Bashforth Last updated 11 Mar 2022

Aerophobia is officially classed as an anxiety disorder. It is also referred to as aviophobia in the United States or known as fear of flying or flying anxiety. It is believed that 1 in 10 people are scared of flying. However, some studies suggest that the proportion is much higher.

In this article :

Why might someone develop a fear of flying, has fear of flying increased, how does a fear of flying present itself, what triggers flying anxiety, how to calm flying anxiety and fear of flying, fear of flying vs reality, how to deal with panic attacks on a plane, how to support someone with a fear of flying, how to manage a fear of flying following the pandemic, where can someone find support for fear of flying.

Continue reading below

Fear of flying could stem from having an anxious parent, whom someone has seen have panic attacks during flights. Flying can be a nerve-racking experience if someone has been involved in a traumatic incident, whether this is bad turbulence or a crash.

Yuko Nippoda, psychotherapist and spokesperson for the UK Council for Psychotherapy ( UKCP ), explains how a fear of flying often stems from a lack of control.

"If you are on a train and you need to get off, you can do so at the next stop. If you're in a car, you can get out almost anywhere. But once you get on an aeroplane, you cannot leave. This sense of losing all authority over your actions can be very frightening," he says.

Nippoda adds that people are used to feeling their feet on solid ground. Therefore, the idea of floating in the sky can lead to imagining worst-case scenarios.

"If catastrophic situations, such as engine failure, bad turbulence or a hijacking occur, the plane could crash. This fear of death can cause major flight anxiety, even if someone knows deep down those things are extremely unlikely. Their mind can go into overdrive."

A survey carried out by National Geographic in 2017 revealed that ⅓ of people in Britain are more scared of flying now than they were 10 years ago. It's likely this figure has now increased, with the recent global pandemic meaning people are flying less and those who are flying now have additional concerns in relation to health and safety. For example, in Britain , 48% are now relying on guidance from health experts before they travel by air.

When discussing the reasons for their flying anxiety, respondents recalled famous disasters, such as the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in 2014. Figures show that 8 out of 10 British flyers worry about engine failure and plane crashes. ⅓ admitted that reading about plane crashes, disappearances and terrorist attacks in recent years has increased their fear. Anxiety is thought to be worst in 25 to 34-year-olds.

National Geographic says the survivability rates of plane accidents are much higher than people think, but survival can sometimes depend on how much you pay attention to the safety briefing. Despite growing fears, just over ⅓ of those surveyed said they do not watch the safety demonstration at the start of a flight.

Fear of flying can present itself in a number of ways.

Before a flight, someone could have panic attacks just thinking about their flight.

While actually on the flight, a person could start:

Feeling dizzy.

Having palpitations .

Feeling short of breath.

Feeling sick.

Having a panic attack .

Since everyone's fear of flying will likely derive from different situations, there are countless triggers.

Information about flight accidents in general (such as watching a documentary about an accident) can cause someone anxiety. This could even happen during a fictional film containing a flight-related catastrophe.

Nippoda adds that long-haul flights can be more of a trigger for flying anxiety than short-haul flights. Passengers know they aren't going to be sitting on the plane for as long during a short journey, whereas a long-haul flight allows more time for disastrous thinking.

In addition, if people have acrophobia (fear of heights) or claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces) in general, these can be heightened when on an aeroplane.

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Nippoda stresses the importance of breathing exercises to remain calm before flying.

"There are many techniques but, in general, it's important to inhale for a short period (5 seconds) and exhale for a longer period (7 or 8 seconds). People can inhale naturally but exhale until they have emptied all the air from the lungs, which helps to keep the rhythm of breathing," he says.

He says it can help to check out the flight information before boarding for reassurance. By doing this, you know what kind of aircraft you will be on, where your seat is, where the toilets are, and the general layout. Familiarising yourself with the aeroplane before you fly can mean the boarding experience feels less daunting.

Nippoda adds that educating yourself on what is reality versus what your brain fears, or what you've heard in movies, can be useful in overcoming fear of flying. He suggests studying accurate information, such as the points listed below, to help you feel safer on a flight and put things into perspective.

The odds that your plane will crash are one in 1.2 million, and the odds of dying from a crash are one in 11 million, according to Harvard University .

Your chances of dying in a car accident, on the other hand, are one in 5,000.

2017 was the safest year for commercial air travel since records began, with more flights undertaken than ever before and zero fatal accidents.

A person could fly once a day for four million years before being involved in a fatal crash.

If you start to feel flying anxiety in the middle of a flight, it's likely this panic will worsen quickly if you feel trapped and aren't able to use an emergency exit. Therefore, starting breathing exercises straightaway can help calm you down.

You may want to close your eyes and visualise something that puts you at ease and eases your fear of flying. Perhaps this is you lying on the beach at your eventual holiday destination, or a peaceful landscape.

"Allow yourself to relax. Remind yourself that you are in control within a limited space, even if you feel out of control. By practising your anti-anxiety techniques , you can start to feel empowered," says Nippoda.

You can also practise simple distraction techniques such as:

Listening to music.

Listening to podcasts.

Watching a comforting film or TV series.

Doing a puzzle.

Reading a book.

If you feel extremely uncomfortable, do not hesitate to call for the staff on board, who have been trained to deal with passengers who struggle with anxiety.

If you have been prescribed medication for anxiety or panic attacks make sure you have it on hand.

If you do not suffer from a fear of flying or flying anxiety but have a loved one who does, it can be difficult to know what to say, perhaps because you fear making the situation worse.

"Acknowledge that flying can be a scary thing, without invalidating how they feel," says Nippoda, adding that this is especially important if you (or they) are not a frequent flyer. They need to know they are not alone.

"Mention that other people on the same flight might have similar flying anxieties. You can also explain that, although there is not a zero per cent chance you will encounter a catastrophic situation, the probability is minimal as thousands of aeroplanes fly every day, but there are hardly any incidents. You can be realistic while being reassuring simultaneously. Reducing their belief that flying is scary by explaining probability like this can be helpful."

It might be useful to practise positive affirmations with your loved one. As you recite these, you should ask the other person to repeat each phrase. These phrases can be:

I am in control.

I am in good hands.

My fears are not realities.

There is no cause for alarm.

Planes make noise and that is normal.

Turbulence is just like a pothole in the road.

I am going to enjoy my trip.

Fear of flying can come with an added layer of unease following the pandemic. Not only is there the fear of being up in the sky and unable to leave the aircraft, but passengers might have a fear of germs or contracting COVID-19 .

What's important to remember is that airline companies have worked hard to implement procedures to ensure the health and safety of their passengers.

You should ensure you and your loved ones are following COVID-19 guidelines and taking your own precautions (such as using hand sanitiser and wearing a face covering) and raising any concerns you have with the staff. If you require clarification on the rules in place, contact the airline to put your mind at ease.

If you know somebody who has flown recently, you could ask about their experience. If you wish to speak to professionals who treat fear of flying, UKCP has a list of practitioners who offer support.

There are courses you can take to help you overcome your fear of flying and flying anxiety. They are offered by various airlines such as:

British Airways .

Virgin Atlantic .

You can find support for flying anxiety by visiting:

Anxiety UK .

Your GP for a formal diagnosis, anti-anxiety medication or a referral for therapy.

Article history

The information on this page is peer reviewed by qualified clinicians.

11 Mar 2022 | Latest version

Last updated by

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11 Mar 2022 | Originally published

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Preventing and Treating Travel Anxiety in Dogs

Author: Cathy Madson, MA, FDM, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

Published: March 30, 2022

Updated: February 13, 2024

Our mission is to help save dogs' and cats’ lives through our educational content. To support our efforts, this page may contain affiliate links . We earn a commission for qualifying purchases – at no cost to you.

Does your dog get anxious in the car? Do they pant and never settle down? Travel anxiety can ruin a road trip before you even hit the highway.

What can you do about it?

Fortunately, quite a few things — give the suggestions in this article a whirl to make Fido a better traveler.

Dogs can be great travel companions, but before you gas up the car and back out of the driveway, there are definitely a few things you can do to make your dog's trip in the car smoother, safer, and more enjoyable for everybody.

Car Sickness in Dogs

Dogs can get car sick while riding in the car, and often this leads to travel anxiety. Puppies are more often affected by motion sickness, and many grow out of it around one year old.

Feeling sick whenever they are in the car doesn’t help build a positive association for your dog, which contributes to the anxiety they feel when they have to go for a car ride. To find out how to help your dog if they get car sick, check out our article “Preventing and Treating Car Sickness in Dogs.”

Help Your Dog Feel Comfortable in the Car

For many dogs, a trip to the vet is the main reason they get to ride in the car. Therefore, many dogs make the association that a car ride = a vet visit. This is called “classical conditioning” (Does Pavlov ring a bell, anyone?). And since many dogs don’t always love what happens at the vet, is it any wonder then that getting in the car can often trigger stress and anxiety for so many dogs?

Other dogs become anxious in the car because of previous bad experiences in the car, such as being left alone or a scary event such as a car accident.

Pro Tip : You can help your dog even more by following these additional tips to make vet visits less stressful .

The good news is that if you start young, you can prevent your dog from ever developing negative associations (and the resulting stressful state of mind) with the car using a process called desensitization. And if you already have a dog that exhibits anxiety during their car ride, it is possible to modify that association using counterconditioning.

The key to both desensitization and counterconditioning is recognizing that it’s not a race. Go slowly. Success is more likely with baby steps.

Desensitizing a Puppy to Enjoy Riding in the Car (Prevention)

• Start with the car parked and turned off. Sit next to your dog in the area you plan on having them regularly ride (we recommend the back seat or cargo area with proper travel safety restraints ). Give your dog pets, praise, treats … whatever they love! Do this for just a few minutes at a time.
• After a few sessions in the same area as your dog, introduce being behind the wheel while your dog is still in their area. You can toss treats back to them and praise them whenever they are quiet and calm. This is a great opportunity for using a stuffed Kong or Toppl to build a positive association with staying calm and being further away from you while in the car.

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• After practicing with the car turned off, start to introduce turning the car on. Keep your own energy and attitude neutral while you turn the car on, wait a brief moment, and then turn it back off. The noise can be a little disconcerting at first, so toss a treat right after it happens. Start to increase the amount of time you leave the engine running, all the while making sure your pup is calm and happy with verbal praise and the occasional toss of a treat.
• If at any point you notice a fear response during this process, don’t panic! Your dog might back away, their ears might go back against their head, or they have a closed mouth and wide eyes. If you see them trying to avoid moving closer, trying to move further away from the car, or trying to jump out, that's a sign that they're stressed. Other subtle signals of stress include yawning, lip licking, or what are called "displacement behaviors." Displacement behaviors are otherwise normal behaviors being performed out of context when your dog is feeling emotionally conflicted, and include things like sniffing the ground, self-grooming, licking, sneezing, and scratching. Keep your energy positive to show your pup there’s nothing to worry about and offer some comfort. Then go back a step or lessen the intensity of the step you’re on.

Counterconditioning Your Anxious Dog to Feel Better About the Car (Treatment)

You'll notice that the following counterconditioning steps are very similar to the desensitization steps outlined in the process above. The biggest difference is that your dog already has a negative association with being in the car versus a puppy who hasn't built any associations (good or bad) when you start introducing them to the car. For this reason, you want to focus on rewarding your dog's choice to move towards the car in these steps.

Don't try to lure with a toy or treat or force them closer with leash pressure. Their confidence around the car will grow if they are given the choice to approach or get in the car, and that choice is rewarded with things they love. The more a choice is rewarded, the more they will choose to make it. Patience is key!

Counterconditioning can take longer than desensitization, and you'll want to work in smaller steps and at a slower progression through the steps! You should also talk to your veterinarian or veterinary behaviorist early on to figure out which supplements or medications will help your dog remain as calm as possible.

Questions? To chat with a veterinarian about your dog's travel anxiety, Click here

A certified dog trainer can also help you manage this behavior modification process by showing you what stress signals to watch out for and helping you plan out your dog's program step-by-step. A trainer can provide support and encouragement while you build up the patience required for counterconditioning behavior modification.

Start Slow: Some dogs need to begin this process without even getting into the car. If your dog has extreme anxiety and starts to stress before they even get in the car, begin outside of the parked car. Any time they look at the car, offer them a treat and praise!

If they take a step towards the car, treat and praise. Or if they like to play, play some tug with them in the vicinity of the car. Do this for just a few minutes the first time, or even just a few seconds, depending on how stressed they are around the car. Do this daily, or every other day, for a few weeks. Build Confidence: You can then have the car door open and repeat this process of giving high-value rewards for looking at and moving towards the car. You don't want to force them into the car — instead, you want them to choose to go towards the open door on their own and then reward them. Reward Continued Progress: Once they've shown more confidence in approaching the open door, you can add in the step of jumping in (or being picked up and placed in the car, if they're small enough). Give lots of praise and a high-value treat when they put their feet in the car, and then let them jump out (or take them out) immediately if they'd like.

Practice this step until your dog is showing confidence in getting in the car and doesn't show signs of immediately wanting to get out. Sit in The Car With Your Dog: Then, with the car parked, go into the back seat (or cargo area) with your dog. Pet them, praise them, and give them high-value treats (like little pieces of cheese, hot dogs, or whatever you know they really  love). Build Duration: Gradually increase the amount of time you're both spending in the car. Consider feeding them regular meals in the car, or sit with them calmly giving praise and pets.

What you’re trying to do here is change your dog’s previously bad association to a positive one. All of your dog’s favorite things now happen in the car — and positive experiences in the car abound. And for most dogs, food is incredibly positive! But if your dog absolutely loves a certain toy or getting a nice, long massage from you, start to offer these things in the car as well.

Now that your dog is counterconditioned to simply being in the car start to take short trips around town to gradually get them more comfortable with traveling in the car. Go to fun places – dog parks, play dates with your friend’s dogs, the pet store, or whatever else you think will be fun for your pet.

Do these regularly and gradually increase the distance you go. (Tip: you can keep going back to the same place, just take a different and progressively longer route.)

Please share your dog's anxiety experiences by taking this quick survey.

Calm Your Dog

There are certain products and tricks you can use to try and calm your dog in the car. It’s difficult to predict which of these will work for a particular dog, so I recommend trying each of them until you find what works for yours.

Familiar Scents and Anti-Anxiety Jackets

Providing your dog with a favorite toy or an article of clothing with your scent (check your laundry basket) may help. This can calm your dog and make the car experience more enjoyable. Just be careful and make sure your dog is not likely to chew up and eat what you offer. After all, if they eat it, you’ll likely be trading travel anxiety for an intestinal obstruction. Those obstructions can require costly surgery to resolve, so they’re best avoided.

You can also try putting clothes on your dog, such as the Thundershirt anxiety-reducing jacket for dogs. These jackets can help calm dogs in a variety of situations, including during car acclimation and travel.

Calming Supplements

There are some good calming supplements on the market that can help dogs relax a bit in a variety of situations. Which ones might work best for your dog in certain situations, like travel anxiety, can be a bit of trial and error. But the three listed below are often good, safe, and reliable places to start (after a conversation with your vet, of course).

Probiotics for Dogs

You may have heard of probiotics for dogs to help with overall gut health, but are likely wondering how they would help with travel anxiety. Well, recent research has established a link between a dog's gut microbiome and their nervous system, brain, and overall behavior. Select probiotics are formulated to enhance the gut microbiome, which, in turn, can lessen anxiety and modify behavior.

Probiotics help mitigate stress-induced symptoms such as vomiting. One study conducted in humans revealed that intervention with probiotics resulted in a 10% reduction in seasickness. It's plausible that dogs may experience similar benefits from the use of probiotics to help with carsickness.

If you intend to use a probiotic supplement, I would recommend Purina's Calming Care . It may take up to a month to notice any benefits. If you have a big car trip coming up, begin adding this to your dog's food a month in advance.

Calming Pheromones

Pheromones are chemical "signals" produced by an animal's body that help them communicate with nearby animals of the same species. For several days after giving birth to a litter of puppies, a female dog releases a pheromone that helps calm and soothe her puppies, giving them a sense of security and comfort.

This pheromone has been copied synthetically and is available in both a spray and collar form. It’s called Adaptil™ , sometimes sold under the Comfort Zone name. Spray a little (a spritz or two) of the travel spray on your dog's favorite stuffed toy or blanket prior to car travel, or put the Adaptil Comfort Zone Collar on your dog to help decrease their anxiety.

Homeopathic Remedies

Essences of flowers and plants make up homeopathic remedies that some people believe really help to calm their pet’s anxiety. One of the more popular products for dogs is Bach Rescue Remedy Pet — some people swear by it, which is why we're including it here. If you want to try Rescue Remedy, you'll need to build it up in your dog's system for a day or two before and continue during travel. Give a dose every four hours in your dog's water, on their food or treats, or directly into their mouth.

The Car Environment

Some pets might travel better if there’s soothing music or fresh air in the car. Try playing classical music, soft rock, or reggae (read about what types of music are most calming for dogs here) or opening the windows a bit. Just don’t let your dog put their head out the window. Doing so risks injuries to their eyes, nose, and head. 

Buckle Up Your Dog

Some dogs will feel less anxious if they are more physically secure in the car. Travel crates, carriers, and travel harnesses are all great ways to help your dog feel more secure and keep their footing during travel.

The best restraint for you will depend on the size of your dog, their comfort level with the restraint, and the type of car, truck, or SUV you drive. Find out our recommendations for the best dog travel harnesses, carriers, and crates in our "Buckle Up Your Pup" article.

An added bonus is that restraints are also important tools to keep both your dog and the other occupants of your car safe during travel. Learn about the dangers of unrestrained pets in this Pet Travel Safety Tip :

Medications For Your Dog's Travel Anxiety or Carsickness

Sometimes, no matter how much acclimation and calming you try, your dog may still need medication. Medication can relieve anxiety and help your dog enjoy car travel. In these instances, you’re going to have to consult with your veterinarian for specifics. Only your veterinarian will best know and understand how certain medications, or combinations of medication and/or supplements, are likely to help and affect your dog. Below are some of the types of medications that your veterinarian may prescribe to help your anxious dog travel better. These drug types are mentioned just to provide you with some information; these are not our veterinary team's specific recommendations or prescriptions. Learn more about dog anxiety medications and supplements here .

A recent examination and doctor-patient relationship are vital to ensuring the safe and effective use of any medication. For specific recommendations and prescriptions, speak with your veterinarian or a board-certified veterinary behaviorist. Do not provide any of these medications to your dog without express instructions from your veterinarian.

Antihistamines: Medications in this drug class may lessen your dog’s travel anxiety and reduce their chances of carsickness through a variety of mechanisms, including their drowsiness-inducing effects and their direct action on your dog’s balance centers. A common antihistamine used for pets is diphenhydramine (Benadryl®). Speak with your veterinarian about whether this might be an option for your dog, and use our Diphenhydramine Dosage Calculator to determine your dog's minimum and maximum dosage. Anxiolytics: This class comprises a wide range of drugs that your veterinarian may prescribe for your anxious pet. As a drug class, they can reduce or block a dog’s anxiety, and some may also cause a degree of sedation. Learn about the different anxiety medications for dogs available here . Sedatives: Sedatives reduce your dog’s level of awareness, basically reducing agitation by decreasing your dog’s perception of the surroundings. There are medications that are specific sedatives, and others that have sedation as a side effect. Only your veterinarian can decide if a sedative is right for your dog’s travel anxiety. Neurokinin receptor blocker: Zoetis makes a unique drug that is highly effective at blocking the center within your dog’s brain responsible for the vomiting reflex. Translation: it is highly effective at preventing vomiting. However, it is only available by prescription and is not indicated for every dog or every situation. It’s called Cerenia®, and if these other measures have failed to control your dog’s car sickness, it’s certainly worthwhile to talk to your veterinarian about it.

If you have a dog that suffers from travel anxiety or carsickness, please fill out our survey . The information you share about your experiences will help many other dogs.

Happy travels!

About the author

Cathy Madson, MA, FDM, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

As Preventive Vet's dog behavior expert and lead trainer at Pupstanding Academy , Cathy focuses on helping humans and their pets build a strong relationship based on trust, clear communication, and the use of positive reinforcement and force-free methods. With over 13 years of experience, she has had the opportunity to work with hundreds of dogs on a wide variety of training and behavior issues. Beyond her one-on-one consultations through Pupstanding Academy, she also teaches group dog training classes at Seattle Humane. Her specialties include dog aggression, resource guarding, separation anxiety, and puppy socialization.

Cathy is a certified Family Dog Mediator, and certified through the Certification Council of Professional Dog Trainers, holding both the CPDT-KA and CBCC-KA designations. Cathy is a Fear Free Certified Certified Professional, a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, the Pet Professional Guild, and the Dog Writer's Association of America. She has also completed the Aggression in Dogs Master Course.

When she's not geeking out about dogs, you can find her reading, hiking with her two Cardigan Welsh Corgis, or paddleboarding.

More about Cathy Madson, MA, FDM, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

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Stormy Daniels Takes the Stand

The porn star testified for eight hours at donald trump’s hush-money trial. this is how it went..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

It’s 6:41 AM. I’m feeling a little stressed because I’m running late. It’s the fourth week of Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial. It’s a white collar trial. Most of the witnesses we’ve heard from have been, I think, typical white collar witnesses in terms of their professions.

We’ve got a former publisher, a lawyer, accountants. The witness today, a little less typical, Stormy Daniels, porn star in a New York criminal courtroom in front of a jury more accustomed to the types of witnesses they’ve already seen. There’s a lot that could go wrong.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Michael Barbaro. This is “The Daily.”

Today, what happened when Stormy Daniels took the stand for eight hours in the first criminal trial of Donald J. Trump. As before, my colleague Jonah Bromwich was inside the courtroom.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It’s Friday, May 10th.

So it’s now day 14 of this trial. And I think it’s worth having you briefly, and in broad strokes, catch listeners up on the biggest developments that have occurred since you were last on, which was the day that opening arguments were made by both the defense and the prosecution. So just give us that brief recap.

Sure. It’s all been the prosecution’s case so far. And prosecutors have a saying, which is that the evidence is coming in great. And I think for this prosecution, which is trying to show that Trump falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal, to ease his way into the White House in 2016, the evidence has been coming in pretty well. It’s come in well through David Pecker, former publisher of The National Enquirer, who testified that he entered into a secret plot with Trump and Michael Cohen, his fixer at the time, to suppress negative stories about Trump, the candidate.

It came in pretty well through Keith Davidson, who was a lawyer to Stormy Daniels in 2016 and negotiated the hush money payment. And we’ve seen all these little bits and pieces of evidence that tell the story that prosecutors want to tell. And the case makes sense so far. We can’t tell what the jury is thinking, as we always say.

But we can tell that there’s a narrative that’s coherent and that matches up with the prosecution’s opening statement. Then we come to Tuesday. And that day really marks the first time that the prosecution’s strategy seems a little bit risky because that’s the day that Stormy Daniels gets called to the witness stand.

OK, well, just explain why the prosecution putting Stormy Daniels on the stand would be so risky. And I guess it makes sense to answer that in the context of why the prosecution is calling her as a witness at all.

Well, you can see why it makes sense to have her. The hush money payment was to her. The cover-up of the hush money payment, in some ways, concerns her. And so she’s this character who’s very much at the center of this story. But according to prosecutors, she’s not at the center of the crime. The prosecution is telling a story, and they hope a compelling one. And arguably, that story starts with Stormy Daniels. It starts in 2006, when Stormy Daniels says that she and Trump had sex, which is something that Trump has always denied.

So if prosecutors were to not call Stormy Daniels to the stand, you would have this big hole in the case. It would be like, effect, effect, effect. But where is the cause? Where is the person who set off this chain reaction? But Stormy Daniels is a porn star. She’s there to testify about sex. Sex and pornography are things that the jurors were not asked about during jury selection. And those are subjects that bring up all kinds of different complex reactions in people.

And so, when the prosecutors bring Stormy Daniels to the courtroom, it’s very difficult to know how the jurors will take it, particularly given that she’s about to describe a sexual episode that she says she had with the former president. Will the jurors think that makes sense, as they sit here and try to decide a falsifying business records case, or will they ask themselves, why are we hearing this?

So the reason why this is the first time that the prosecution’s strategy is, for journalists like you, a little bit confusing, is because it’s the first time that the prosecution seems to be taking a genuine risk in what they’re putting before these jurors. Everything else has been kind of cut and dry and a little bit more mechanical. This is just a wild card.

This is like live ammunition, to some extent. Everything else is settled and controlled. And they know what’s going to happen. With Stormy Daniels, that’s not the case.

OK, so walk us through the testimony. When the prosecution brings her to the stand, what actually happens?

It starts, as every witness does, with what’s called direct examination, which is a fancy word for saying prosecutors question Stormy Daniels. And they have her tell her story. First, they have her tell the jury about her education and where she grew up and her professional experience. And because of Stormy Daniels’s biography, that quickly goes into stripping, and then goes into making adult films.

And I thought the prosecutor who questioned her, Susan Hoffinger, had this nice touch in talking about that, because not only did she ask Daniels about acting in adult films. But she asked her about writing and directing them, too, emphasizing the more professional aspects of that work and giving a little more credit to the witness, as if to say, well, you may think this or you may think that. But this is a person with dignity who took what she did seriously. Got it.

What’s your first impression of Daniels as a witness?

It’s very clear that she’s nervous. She’s speaking fast. She’s laughing to herself and making small jokes. But the tension in the room is so serious from the beginning, from the moment she enters, that those jokes aren’t landing. So it just feels, like, really heavy and still and almost oppressive in there. So Daniels talking quickly, seeming nervous, giving more answers than are being asked of her by the prosecution, even before we get to the sexual encounter that she’s about to describe, all of that presents a really discomfiting impression, I would say.

And how does this move towards the encounter that Daniels ultimately has?

It starts at a golf tournament in 2006, in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Daniels meets Trump there. There are other celebrities there, too. They chatted very briefly. And then she received a dinner invitation from him. She thought it over, she says. And she goes to have dinner with Trump, not at a restaurant, by the way. But she’s invited to join him in the hotel suite.

So she gets to the hotel suite. And his bodyguard is there. And the hotel door is cracked open. And the bodyguard greets her and says she looks nice, this and that. And she goes in. And there’s Donald Trump, just as expected. But what’s not expected, she says, is that he’s not wearing what you would wear to a dinner with a stranger, but instead, she says, silk or satin pajamas. She asked him to change, she says. And he obliges.

He goes, and he puts on a dress shirt and dress pants. And they sit down at the hotel suite’s dining room table. And they have a kind of bizarre dinner. Trump is asking her very personal questions about pornography and safe sex. And she testifies that she teased him about vain and pompous he is. And then at some point, she goes to the bathroom. And she sees that he has got his toiletries in there, his Old Spice, his gold tweezers.

Very specific details.

Yeah, we’re getting a ton of detail in this scene. And the reason we’re getting those is because prosecutors are trying to elicit those details to establish that this is a credible person, that this thing did happen, despite what Donald Trump and his lawyers say. And the reason you can know it happened, prosecutors seem to be saying, is because, look at all these details she can still summon up.

She comes out of the bathroom. And she says that Donald Trump is on the hotel bed. And what stands out to me there is what she describes as a very intense physical reaction. She says that she blacked out. And she quickly clarifies, she doesn’t mean from drugs or alcohol. She means that, she says, that the intensity of this experience was such that, suddenly, she can’t remember every detail. The prosecution asks a question that cuts directly to the sex. Essentially, did you start having sex with him? And Daniels says that she did. And she continues to provide more details than even, I think, the prosecution wanted.

And I think we don’t want to go chapter and verse through this claimed sexual encounter. But I wonder what details stand out and which details feel important, given the prosecution’s strategy here.

All the details stand out because it’s a story about having had sex with a former president. And the more salacious and more private the details feel, the more you’re going to remember them. So we’ll remember that Stormy Daniels said what position they had sex in. We’ll remember that she said he didn’t use a condom. Whether that’s important to the prosecution’s case, now, that’s a much harder question to answer, as we’ve been saying.

But what I can tell you is, as she’s describing having had sex with Donald Trump, and Donald Trump is sitting right there, and Eric Trump, his son, is sitting behind him, seeming to turn a different color as he hears this embarrassment of his father being described to a courtroom full of reporters at this trial, it’s hard to even describe the energy in that room. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. And it was just Daniels’s testimony and, seemingly, the former President’s emotions. And you almost felt like you were trapped in there with both of them as this description was happening.

Well, I think it’s important to try to understand why the prosecution is getting these details, these salacious, carnal, pick your word, graphic details about sex with Donald Trump. What is the value, if other details are clearly making the point that she’s recollecting something?

Well, I think, at this point, we can only speculate. But one thing we can say is, this was uncomfortable. This felt bad. And remember, prosecutor’s story is not about the sex. It’s about trying to hide the sex. So if you’re trying to show a jury why it might be worthwhile to hide a story, it might be worth —

Providing lots of salacious details that a person would want to hide.

— exposing them to how bad that story feels and reminding them that if they had been voters and they had heard that story, and, in fact, they asked Daniels this very question, if you hadn’t accepted hush money, if you hadn’t signed that NDA, is this the story you would have told? And she said, yes. And so where I think they’re going with this, but we can’t really be sure yet, is that they’re going to tell the jurors, hey, that story, you can see why he wanted to cover that up, can’t you?

You mentioned the hush money payments. What testimony does Daniels offer about that? And how does it advance the prosecution’s case of business fraud related to the hush money payments?

So little evidence that it’s almost laughable. She says that she received the hush money. But we actually already heard another witness, her lawyer at the time, Keith Davidson, testify that he had received the hush money payment on her behalf. And she testified about feeling as if she had to sell this story because the election was fast approaching, almost as if her leverage was slipping away because she knew this would be bad for Trump.

That feels important. But just help me understand why it’s important.

Well, what the prosecution has been arguing is that Trump covered up this hush money payment in order to conceal a different crime. And that crime, they say, was to promote his election to the presidency by illegal means.

Right, we’ve talked about this in the past.

So when Daniels ties her side of the payment into the election, it just reminds the jurors maybe, oh, right, this is what they’re arguing.

So how does the prosecution end this very dramatic, and from everything you’re saying, very tense questioning of Stormy Daniels about this encounter?

Well, before they can even end, the defense lawyers go and they consult among themselves. And then, with the jury out of the room, one of them stands up. And he says that the defense is moving for a mistrial.

On what terms?

He says that the testimony offered by Daniels that morning is so prejudicial, so damning to Trump in the eyes of the jury, that the trial can no longer be fair. Like, how could these jurors have heard these details and still be fair when they render their verdict? And he says a memorable expression. He says, you can’t un-ring that bell, meaning they heard it. They can’t un-hear it. It’s over. Throw out this trial. It should be done.

Wow. And what is the response from the judge?

So the judge, Juan Merchan, he hears them out. And he really hears them out. But at the end of their arguments, he says, I do think she went a little too far. He says that. He said, there were things that were better left unsaid.

By Stormy Daniels?

By Stormy Daniels. And he acknowledges that she is a difficult witness. But, he says, the remedy for that is not a mistrial, is not stopping the whole thing right now. The remedy for that is cross-examination. If the defense feels that there are issues with her story, issues with her credibility, they can ask her whatever they want. They can try to win the jury back over. If they think this jury has been poisoned by this witness, well, this is their time to provide the antidote. The antidote is cross-examination. And soon enough, cross-examination starts. And it is exactly as intense and combative as we expected.

We’ll be right back.

So, Jonah, how would you characterize the defense’s overall strategy in this intense cross-examination of Stormy Daniels?

People know the word impeach from presidential impeachments. But it has a meaning in law, too. You impeach a witness, and, specifically, their credibility. And that’s what the defense is going for here. They are going to try to make Stormy Daniels look like a liar, a fraud, an extortionist, a money-grubbing opportunist who wanted to take advantage of Trump and sought to do so by any means necessary.

And what did that impeachment strategy look like in the courtroom?

The defense lawyer who questions Stormy Daniels is a woman named Susan Necheles. She’s defended Trump before. And she’s a bit of a cross-examination specialist. We even saw her during jury selection bring up these past details to confront jurors who had said nasty things about Trump on social media with. And she wants to do the same thing with Daniels. She wants to bring up old interviews and old tweets and things that Daniels has said in the past that don’t match what Daniels is saying from the stand.

What’s a specific example? And do they land?

Some of them land. And some of them don’t. One specific example is that Necheles confronts Daniels with this old tweet, where Daniels says that she’s going to dance down the street if Trump goes to jail. And what she’s trying to show there is that Daniels is out for revenge, that she hates Trump, and that she wants to see him go to jail. And that’s why she’s testifying against him.

And Daniels is very interesting during the cross-examination. It’s almost as if she’s a different person. She kind of squares her shoulders. And she sits up a little straighter. And she leans forward. Daniels is ready to fight. But it doesn’t quite land. The tweet actually says, I’ll dance down the street when he’s selected to go to jail.

And Daniels goes off on this digression about how she knows that people don’t get selected to go to jail. That’s not how it works. But she can’t really unseat this argument, that she’s a political enemy of Donald Trump. So that one kind of sticks, I would say. But there are other moves that Necheles tries to pull that don’t stick.

So unlike the prosecution, which typically used words like adult, adult film, Necheles seems to be taking every chance she can get to say porn, or pornography, or porn star, to make it sound base or dirty. And so when she starts to ask Daniels about actually being in pornography, writing, acting, and directing sex films, she tries to land a punch line, Necheles does. She says, so you have a lot of experience making phony stories about sex appear to be real, right?

As if to say, perhaps this story you have told about entering Trump’s suite in Lake Tahoe and having sex with him was made up.

Just another one of your fictional stories about sex. But Daniels comes back and says, the sex in the films, it’s very much real, just like what happened to me in that room. And so, when you have this kind of combat of a lawyer cross-examining very aggressively and the witness fighting back, you can feel the energy in the room shift as one lands a blow or the other does. But here, Daniels lands one back. And the other issue that I think Susan Necheles runs into is, she tries to draw out disparities from interviews that Daniels gave, particularly to N-TOUCH, very early on once the story was out.

It’s kind of like a tabloid magazine?

But some of the disparities don’t seem to be landing quite like Necheles would want. So she tries to do this complicated thing about where the bodyguard was in the room when Daniels walked into the room, as described in an interview in a magazine. But in that magazine interview, as it turns out, Daniels mentioned that Trump was wearing pajamas. And so, if I’m a juror, I don’t care where the bodyguard is. I’m thinking about, oh, yeah, I remember that Stormy Daniels said now in 2024 that Trump was wearing pajamas.

I’m curious if, as somebody in the room, you felt that the defense was effective in undermining Stormy Daniels’s credibility? Because what I took from the earlier part of our conversation was that Stormy Daniels is in this courtroom on behalf of the prosecution to tell a story that’s uncomfortable and has the kind of details that Donald Trump would be motivated to try to hide. And therefore, this defense strategy is to say, those details about what Trump might want to hide, you can’t trust them. So does this back and forth effectively hurt Stormy Daniels’s credibility, in your estimation?

I don’t think that Stormy Daniels came off as perfectly credible about everything she testified about. There are incidents that were unclear or confusing. There were things she talked about that I found hard to believe, when she, for instance, denied that she had attacked Trump in a tweet or talked about her motivations. But about what prosecutors need, that central story, the story of having had sex with him, we can’t know whether it happened.

But there weren’t that many disparities in these accounts over the years. In terms of things that would make me doubt the story that Daniels was telling, details that don’t add up, those weren’t present. And you don’t have to take my word for that, nor should you. But the judge is in the room. And he says something very, very similar.

What does he say? And why does he say it?

Well, he does it when the defense, again, at the end of the day on Thursday, calls for a mistrial.

With a similar argument as before?

Not only with a similar argument as before, but, like, almost the exact same argument. And I would say that I was astonished to see them do this. But I wasn’t because I’ve covered other trials where Trump is the client. And in those trials, the lawyers, again and again, called for a mistrial.

And what does Judge Marchan say in response to this second effort to seek a mistrial?

Let me say, to this one, he seems a little less patient. He says that after the first mistrial ruling, two days before, he went into his chambers. And he read every decision he had made about the case. He took this moment to reflect on the first decision. And he found that he had, in his own estimation, which is all he has, been fair and not allowed evidence that was prejudicial to Trump into this trial. It could continue. And so he said that again. And then he really almost turned on the defense. And he said that the things that the defense was objecting to were things that the defense had made happen.

He says that in their opening statement, the defense could have taken issue with many elements of the case, about whether there were falsified business records, about any of the other things that prosecutors are saying happened. But instead, he says, they focused their energy on denying that Trump ever had sex with Daniels.

And so that was essentially an invitation to the prosecution to call Stormy Daniels as a witness and have her say from the stand, yes, I had this sexual encounter. The upshot of it is that the judge not only takes the defense to task. But he also just says that he finds Stormy Daniels’s narrative credible. He doesn’t see it as having changed so much from year to year.

Interesting. So in thinking back to our original question here, Jonah, about the idea that putting Stormy Daniels on the stand was risky, I wonder if, by the end of this entire journey, you’re reevaluating that idea because it doesn’t sound like it ended up being super risky. It sounded like it ended up working reasonably well for the prosecution.

Well, let me just assert that it doesn’t really matter what I think. The jury is going to decide this. There’s 12 people. And we can’t know what they’re thinking. But my impression was that, while she was being questioned by the prosecution for the prosecution’s case, Stormy Daniels was a real liability. She was a difficult witness for them.

And the judge said as much. But when the defense cross-examined her, Stormy Daniels became a better witness, in part because their struggles to discredit her may have actually ended up making her story look more credible and stronger. And the reason that matters is because, remember, we said that prosecutors are trying to fill this hole in their case. Well, now, they have. The jury has met Stormy Daniels. They’ve heard her account. They’ve made of it what they will. And now, the sequence of events that prosecutors are trying to line up as they seek prison time for the former President really makes a lot of sense.

It starts with what Stormy Daniels says with sex in a hotel suite in 2006. It picks up years later, as Donald Trump is trying to win an election and, prosecutors say, suppressing negative stories, including Stormy Daniels’s very negative story. And the story that prosecutors are telling ends with Donald Trump orchestrating the falsification of business records to keep that story concealed.

Well, Jonah, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Of course, thanks for having me.

The prosecution’s next major witness will be Michael Cohen, the former Trump fixer who arranged for the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Cohen is expected to take the stand on Monday.

Here’s what else you need to know today. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a defiant response to warnings from the United States that it would stop supplying weapons to Israel if Israel invades the Southern Gaza City of Rafah. So far, Israel has carried out a limited incursion into the city where a million civilians are sheltering, but has threatened a full invasion. In a statement, Netanyahu said, quote, “if we need to stand alone, we will stand alone.”

Meanwhile, high level ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas have been put on hold in part because of anger over Israel’s incursion into Rafah.

A reminder, tomorrow, we’ll be sharing the latest episode of our colleague’s new show, “The Interview” This week on “The Interview,” Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with radio host Charlamagne Tha God about his frustrations with how Americans talk about politics.

If me as a Black man, if I criticize Democrats, then I’m supporting MAGA. But if I criticize, you know, Donald Trump and Republicans, then I’m a Democratic shill. Why can’t I just be a person who deals in nuance?

Today’s episode was produced by Olivia Natt and Michael Simon Johnson. It was edited by Lexie Diao, with help from Paige Cowett, contains original music by Will Reid and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you on Monday.

• May 17, 2024   •   51:10 The Campus Protesters Explain Themselves
• May 16, 2024   •   30:47 The Make-or-Break Testimony of Michael Cohen
• May 15, 2024   •   27:03 The Possible Collapse of the U.S. Home Insurance System
• May 14, 2024   •   35:20 Voters Want Change. In Our Poll, They See It in Trump.
• May 13, 2024   •   27:46 How Biden Adopted Trump’s Trade War With China
• May 10, 2024   •   27:42 Stormy Daniels Takes the Stand
• May 9, 2024   •   34:42 One Strongman, One Billion Voters, and the Future of India
• May 8, 2024   •   28:28 A Plan to Remake the Middle East
• May 7, 2024   •   27:43 How Changing Ocean Temperatures Could Upend Life on Earth
• May 6, 2024   •   29:23 R.F.K. Jr.’s Battle to Get on the Ballot
• May 3, 2024   •   25:33 The Protesters and the President
• May 2, 2024   •   29:13 Biden Loosens Up on Weed

Hosted by Michael Barbaro

Featuring Jonah E. Bromwich

Produced by Olivia Natt and Michael Simon Johnson

Edited by Lexie Diao

With Paige Cowett

Original music by Will Reid and Marion Lozano

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

This episode contains descriptions of an alleged sexual liaison.

What happened when Stormy Daniels took the stand for eight hours in the first criminal trial of former President Donald J. Trump?

Jonah Bromwich, one of the lead reporters covering the trial for The Times, was in the room.

On today’s episode

Jonah E. Bromwich , who covers criminal justice in New York for The New York Times.

Background reading

In a second day of cross-examination, Stormy Daniels resisted the implication she had tried to shake down Donald J. Trump by selling her story of a sexual liaison.

Here are six takeaways from Ms. Daniels’s earlier testimony.

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The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

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Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

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