Michael Avenatti, attorney to Ms Daniels, has filed a motion in the lawsuit to depose Mr Trump and Mr Cohen that is scheduled to be heard on 30 April. The adult film actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claimed to have had sex with Mr Trump in 2006, while he was married to First Lady Melania Trump and provided salacious details of the supposed affair in a televised interview on the 60 Minutes news programme.

Mr Avenatti said in the motion that the depositions would last no longer than two hours, apparently in an attempt to thwart any objections from Mr Trump’s lawyers that he is too busy to be deposed for the case. He also filed a motion asking for a jury trial no more than 90 days from 27 March. "We expect to be placing the president and his fixer under oath in the coming months," Mr Avenatti said.

Raj Shah, White House Deputy Press Secretary, said in a news conference that Mr Trump does not believe Ms Daniels' claim she was threatened over the alleged affair. "There's nothing to corroborate her claim," he said. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also said Mr Trump was unaware of Mr Cohen’s payment, which Ms Daniels referred to as the “hush agreement” in the lawsuit.

This morning Mr Trump sent a few cryptic tweets that appeared to be in relation to the FBI investigating Mr Cohen. They read: "attorney-client privilege is dead!" and "TOTAL WITCH HUNT!"