NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s loyal former White House press secretary Hope Hicks testified at his Manhattan trial Friday, breaking down after divulging potentially damaging testimony for the former president regarding the motivations behind his fixer’s hush money payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump’s former White House Communications Director and campaign spokeswoman, once considered among his closest confidants, was referencing the only conversation she knew of that Trump had with Cohen about paying off Daniels, which she said Trump told her about after it was first reported in detail in February 2018.

“Mr. Trump’s opinion was it was better to be dealing with it now, and that it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election,” Hicks testified in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Hicks said the conversation happened after Cohen issued a statement to The New York Times denying Trump had anything to do with a $130,000 payment he issued to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to stay silent about an alleged extramarital one-night stand with Trump at a 2006 charity golf tournament.

“President Trump (was) saying he spoke to Michael, and that Michael had paid this woman to protect him from a false allegation and that, you know, Michael felt like it was his job to protect him, and that’s what he was doing. And he did it out of the kindness of his own heart. He never told anybody about it.”

Hicks, who testified under a subpoena, said Trump called it a “generous” thing to do and that he appreciated Cohen’s “loyalty.”

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo then asked Hicks if that squared with the Cohen she knew.

“I’d say that would be out of character for Michael,” Hicks conceded. “I didn’t know Michael to be an especially charitable person or selfless person, um, (he’s) the kind of person who seeks credit.”

Colangelo then ended his direct examination by asking if Trump ever said anything about timing, prompting Hicks’ answer about him saying it would have been worse had the payoff been reported on before the election.

Moments later, when Trump lawyer Emil Bove had barely begun his cross-examination, she broke down into tears, prompting Judge Juan Merchan to call a recess abruptly.

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