The lawyer of a Playboy bunny jokingly asked to be made ambassador to the Isle of Man in return for selling the rights of a story of the model’s alleged affair with Donald Trump.

Details emerged at Mr Trump’s ‘hush money’ trial in New York which is now in its third week.

The former US president faces 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels, another woman with whom Mr Trump is alleged to have had an affair.

He denies all charges.

Playboy Playmate of the Year 1998 Karen McDougal claims she embarked on a 10-month affair with him in 2006, 10 years before he became president. Mr Trump denies having had an affair with her or with Stormy Daniels.

Keith Davidson, former attorney for both women, was called to the stand on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Davidson testified that he began representing Ms McDougal in 2016 regarding a ‘personal interaction that she had’ with the billionaire tycoon.

The lawyer contacted the editor of the National Enquirer promising a ‘blockbuster Trump story’.

During the negotiations. Mr Davidson texted: ‘Throw in an ambassadorship for me. I’m thinking the Isle of Man.’

The prosecution asked what he meant by that. The witness replied: ‘It was sort of in jest. That was just a joke.’

‘Why was that a joke, what was that funny?’ he was asked.

‘Well I don’t even think the Isle of Man is a country and I know they don’t have an ambassador. But I think it was a reference to Mr Trump’s candidacy,’ Mr Davidson replied.

Pressed to explain what he meant by the text, if said if Karen McDougal did a deal with the Enquirer that ‘it would help Mr Trump’s candidacy’.

He added that he didn’t know that AMI had struck a deal with Mr Trump but understood it to have been supporting of his candidacy.

The Enquirer’s parent company AMI ended up paying $150,000 to buy the rights to her story which it never published in a practice known as ‘catch and kill’.

Prosecutors contend that the money was paid to keep McDougal quiet in the lead up to the 2016 election, but lawyers for Mr Trump maintain the payment was for legitimate work including writing fitness columns for magazines.

AMI’s chief executive David Pecker testified that he would not have published the story. ‘You killed the story because it helped the candidate Donald Trump? the prosecutor asked. ‘Yes,’ he replied.

He said he ‘didn’t want this story to embarrass Mr Trump or embarrass or hurt the campaign.’