Trump trial live updates: Former president faces criminal charges ...

We are now getting our first taste of the state’s evidence. 

The prosecution is previewing National Inquirer headlines from 2016 — what they call the “concrete manifestation” of the scheme to suppress bad stories about then-candidate Trump, and push negative stories about his opponents.

In response to a request by Trump’s team to identify whether a prospective juror is pro- or anti-Trump, Merchan said, “There will be no doubt how the prospective juror feels about Mr. Trump” by the time they’re done with the questioning.

Another request to go into areas not addressed by the jury questionnaire was denied.

Merchan said there will be no trial on any Wednesdays or on April 29. But if the trial starts to run long, he said he reserves the right to convene trial on Wednesday afternoons.

There will be no trial on any day that conflicts with the religious observance of any juror, as well, he said.

At most, that would mean April 22 and 23 for Passover as well as April 29 and 30, but that will not be true to accommodate the lawyers alone. He is willing to curtail trial on April 22 and April 23 by 2 p.m. to allow counsel to make it to their holiday observances by sundown, which is roughly at 7:43 pm ET.

If everything is going according to schedule, he said he will adjourn for Barron Trump’s high school graduation and that of one of the defense lawyers’ children on May 17 and June 3, respectively. But he said he's reserving judgment on that now.

Trump reposted a claim on his Truth Social website about Orthodox Jews being unable to sit on this jury because having court in session on Fridays conflicts with Shabbat, which begins Friday night at sundown.

But Merchan contradicted this claim today, saying that there would be no trial on any day that conflicts with the religious observance of any juror, including Passover, which begins next week.

Merchan also said he is willing to curtail trial on April 22 and April 23 by 2 p.m. to allow counsel to make it to their holiday observances by sundown, which is roughly at 7:43 p.m.

Merchan began the day by discussing the motion filed by Trump's team calling for the judge to recuse himself from the case. He denied that request.

Merchan, for example, says that the defense motion to recuse "does not reasonably or logically" explain how an interview he gave to a publication violates the law or the defendant's rights.

"There is no basis for recusal," Merchan said.

The judge also said Trump has made attacks on social media, which he said the court has said is in violation of the gag order.

Judge Juan Merchan has entered the courtroom and is now on the bench. Court is in session.

While Trump is in the courtroom, his Truth Social account shared posts about a poll from the 2024 GOP South Carolina primary that showed him leading Nikki Haley as well as one about Dominion Voting Systems.

Trump and his allies spread conspiracy theories about the voting machine company during the 2020 election.

It's unclear if Trump himself was posting on his account from inside the courtroom.

The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's hush money case in New York has approved a questionnaire for jury selection and instructions for prospective jurors in the trial, which is set to begin next week.

In a letter Monday, Judge Juan Merchan provided attorneys in the case with a jury questionnaire that consists of 42 numbered questions on a range of topics. The form does not ask about party affiliation, political contributions or voting history.

Read more about the questionnaire here.

Trump, in a red tie, white shirt and dark suit, takes his seat at the table. Blanche has taken the seat closest to the aisle on one side of Trump with his partner Emil Bove, another former SDNY prosecutor, on Trump’s other side. Susan Necheles is on the left of Bove.

Trump is alternatively watching the action, as he did when Blanche just conferred with a court officer, and staring grimly into the distance. He is also now talking animatedly with Blanche as the latter slips him pages from a thick three-ring binder.

In brief remarks to cameras set up inside the courthouse, Trump said that the trial is "an assault on America" and just an attack on a "political opponent."

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," he said. "This is political persecution. ... It's a case that should have never been brought."

"This is an assault on America and that's why I'm very proud to be here," Trump added. "This is really an attack on a political opponent."

Trump will make history today as the first former president to stand trial on criminal charges, a watershed moment for American politics, the presidential election and Trump himself.

Trump — the presumptive Republican nominee for president — is required to be present for the entire trial, which could last as long as eight weeks. He’s pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records, a low-level felony punishable by up to four years in prison. The trial kicks off today with jury selection.

The charges relate to Trump’s first run for president, in 2016. Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office allege he took part in a scheme with his then-lawyer Michael Cohen and the publisher of the National Enquirer to suppress scandalous stories about him in the run-up to Election Day.

One of those stories involved porn star Stormy Daniels, who alleged she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied the claim, and Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 to keep quiet about the allegation. After he was elected, Trump repaid Cohen in payments recorded as legal fees at his company — documents the DA alleges were falsified to keep the hush money payments secret.

Trump has maintained he didn’t do anything wrong and derided the case as being part of a politically motivated “witch hunt” against him, a claim he’s used to galvanize his supporters and rake in millions of dollars in fundraising for his campaign.

Read the full story here.

Bragg’s team has entered the courtroom and is starting to set up at the government’s table. Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor who also played a lead role in the Trump Organization's criminal trial in 2022, is visible, as is Susan Hoffinger, who leads the investigations unit in Bragg’s office.

The press pool and today’s sketch artist appear to be seated in the first row directly behind them.The DA’s office has a large banker’s box on their table. Matthew Colangelo, another leading lawyer on the DA’s team and the subject of multiple Trump social media posts, also can be seen.

Colangelo, who previously served in the New York attorney general’s office, then went to Main Justice and left his job there to join Bragg’s team.

Just minutes after he arrived at the courthouse, Trump posted on his Truth Social account, "When I walk into that courtroom, I know I will have the love of 200 million Americans behind me, and I will be FIGHTING for the FREEDOM of 325 MILLION AMERICANS!"

It's unclear where he got the number 200 million. In 2020, he lost the popular vote, with the support of about 74 million Americans and in 2016, he lost the popular vote, with the support of about 62 million Americans.

The trial in the New York criminal case against Trump begins today with jury selection, the first of the four criminal cases against the former president to reach this pivotal stage.

The charges against Trump stem from an investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office into an alleged “catch and kill” scheme to bury negative stories about Trump before the 2016 presidential election in a bid to influence the outcome.

According to prosecutors, several people participated in the scheme, which involved paying people off to buy their silence and covering up the payments in Trump’s business records.

Here are the key people in the case who will come up during the trial, potentially as witnesses.

Trump’s motorcade arrived at the courthouse at 9:02 a.m.

Michael Cohen told MSNBC's "The Weekend" on Saturday that he was skeptical Trump would testify in the criminal trial related to a 2016 hush money payment.

"The likelihood of Donald Trump being on the stand is equal to the likelihood of me waking up tomorrow 7 foot 6 and playing center for the New York Knicks. It's not going to happen," Cohen said.

His comments follow remarks that Trump made to reporters Friday, saying that he would "absolutely" testify in this trial.

"Every time Donald opens his mouth, you know that something nontruthful is coming out of it," Cohen added.

As we approach 9 a.m., tension is already high. A man believed to be member of the public in the overflow room just tried to leave the room and was told, in stark terms, his choices were to sit or leave the building. 

Shares of Trump Media plunged more than 17% in the pre-trading hours today after the company filed to issue millions of additional shares of stock.

The company behind the Truth Social app, which trades under the stock ticker DJT on the Nasdaq, fell almost 20% last week.

Read the full story here.

As of right now, the morning pool — a pre-arranged group of six reporters plus one sketch artist — is already in the courtroom, which appears to be otherwise empty, save for court security officers. Several of us from the NBC and MSNBC teams are safely ensconced in the overflow room.

The cameras are set up to give us a view of both teams of lawyers, the judge and a podium in the corner that does not appear to be the usual lectern at which lawyers make arguments or question witnesses.

How the court rules in the case brought by Jan. 6 defendant Joseph Fischer, accused of obstructing an official proceeding, could affect the separate Trump prosecution.

Read the full story here.

Trump's motorcade has departed Trump Tower and is en route to the courthouse.

Hallie Jackson

The former president is feeling defiant as his criminal trial is set to begin, a senior campaign adviser says — a mood that’s evident to anyone who’s watched his recent rallies or poked around his Truth Social account. 

Two days before the start of Trump’s New York criminal trial, the former president attacked his former attorney Michael Cohen who is expected to be a key witness in the case.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “Has disgraced attorney and felon Michael Cohen been prosecuted for LYING? Only TRUMP people get prosecuted by this Judge and these thugs! A dark day for our Country.”

Read the full story here.

In a series of posts on his Truth Social platform this morning, Trump repeatedly complained about the gag order that New York state Judge Juan Merchan ordered in the hush money case and argued that the legal battles he faces are attempts to interfere with his presidential campaign.

"I want my VOICE back. This Crooked Judge has GAGGED me. Unconstitutional! The other side can talk about me, but I am not allowed to talk about them! Rigged Trial!" he wrote in a post.

In a separate post, Trump wrote: "Why didn’t they bring this totally discredited lawsuit 7 years ago??? Election Interference!"

Trump also argued that the case should be tossed, claiming it falls outside of the statute of limitations, and slammed Merchan.

“As virtually every legal scholar has powerfully stated, the Biden Manhattan Witch Hunt Case is, among other things, BARRED by the Statute of Limitations,” he wrote. “This ‘trial’ should be ended by the highly conflicted presiding Judge.”

LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. — NBC News spoke to four supporters of Trump and Arizona Senate Republican candidate Kari Lake about the hush money trial, and all said they thought the trial is politically motivated.

Ryan Skinner, 52, pinned the blame for the trial on Trump's political opponents when asked how he felt about the former president being tied up in court for potentially two months.

“Well, I think it’s disgusting that his political enemies are using the judicial system against him,” he said. “It speaks of Soviet-area communism, you know, if you look at history, that’s what they did with their opponents. I think it’s wrong and it’s disgusting.”

Dustin Heiser, 36, argued that the hush money trial demonstrates that Trump is being “singled out” because it’s “kind of crazy” to see a former president face charges.

“I mean, it’s all public knowledge, the amount of money that presidents, Senate representatives get after they leave office,” Heiser said. “I mean, the stuff, insider information, as far as stocks and stuff like that go, all of that is public knowledge. So for Donald Trump to be brought up on charges like that, it’s kind of crazy. And I feel like since he’s the only one, it can’t help you think, but he’s been singled out.”

Heiser added that he believes Trump is being singled out for “standing up for what is wrong."

Geenee Roe, 63, said she thinks the legal battles Trump faces is an attempt to keep him away from campaigning for re-election.

“I think it’s horrible," Roe said. "I think it’s there. They’re just tying him up. And it’s, they’re just trying to keep him from campaigning, which he doesn’t need to do anyway.”

Cameron Link, 40, similarly argued that the hush money case is politically motivated, noting that Trump’s trials are unprecedented.

“This is the first time in American history that we’re going through some serious political stuff,” he said. “And I think that this is more, much more, politically driven than it is actually driven by actual criminal activity, if that makes sense.”

NBC News Washington Managing Editor Carol Lee joins the "Meet the Press" roundtable to report that President Joe Biden will not comment on Trump’s upcoming criminal trial despite some Biden allies hoping he would “go on the offense.”

Throughout its 248-year history, America has witnessed dramatic, high-profile courtroom battles that test the laws and tear at its social fabric: from the Haymarket Square riot case and the Scopes Monkey Trial to the failed prosecution of Hall of Fame NFL running back O.J. Simpson in a grisly double murder.

But the country has never seen anything quite like the made-for-the-screen trial set to start today in New York: A former president, who is also the current Republican Party nominee for the presidency, faces a jury in a criminal trial that is poised to grip the nation and inflame political rhetoric in a country that is already sharply divided.

Read the full story here

As many as 6,000 jurors will be subpoenaed to Manhattan Criminal Courts this week, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.

Not all these jurors are intended for the Trump trial but the increase in numbers can be attributed to his trial — a typical week would only have 4,000 jurors appearing.

While the trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, jury selection alone is expected to take one to two weeks. Today, prosecutors and lawyers for Trump will begin to narrow the poll of potential jurors to 12 jurors and six alternates.

Trump will become the first former president to stand trial in a criminal case — and he’ll do so against the backdrop of a presidential campaign in which he’s the presumptive Republican nominee.

Jury selection begins today in New York City, and the trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.

Here’s a look at what you need to know and what’s expected to happen.

Outside the courthouse earlier this morning, it was still quiet as the sky began to lighten. The only activity was correspondents doing live hits right across the street from the courthouse and a mix of paid line-sitters and reporters queuing up. The police presence is noticeable — police SUVs rolling around the neighborhood, officers on the street — but not yet overwhelming.