A reporter asked President Trump how the case was going as he left the courtroom.
"Very well," President Trump said. "You've heard that yourself. This is a case no one wanted to bring ... it goes back many, many years."
"It's a case as to bookkeeping, which is a very minor thing," he said, contrasting it to the "violent crime" he claimed prosecutors were not pursuing. "This is a case where you pay a lawyer ... and they call it a legal expense. That's the exact term they use legal expense in the book."
David Pecker, 72, was the first witness called to testify by prosecutors.
From 1999 to 2020, he was the chairman, president, and CEO of American Media Inc., which published mainly celebrity magazines including National Enquirer, the Globe, Life and Style, US Weekly.
Mr. Pecker said there were different departments, but he had final say.
Ms. Habba told reporters she had come over from the civil division to see her client.
“The fact that we have two courts not one, criminal and civil, being used against one man because they cannot beat him in the polls is a disgrace to the American judicial system. You should not have two teams of lawyers here today,” she said.
She described the hearing she had just left "the epitome of a witch hunt."
President Trump stepped out of the courtroom but did not speak to reporters.
Trump attorneys Alina Habba and Chris Kise were seen in the hallway right before noon.
They had argued that morning about the sufficiency of the $175 million bond President Trump posted in his civil fraud case.
Mr. Blanche said that of the 34 charges, conspiracy was not one of them. He argued the "catch and kill" the jury heard about from prosecutors is not in the charges because it was not illegal and happens regularly.
"The reality is that there is nothing illegal about what happened," Mr. Blanche argued. He added that testimony would be about things from 2015 to 2017 and asked the jury to "think about whether it rings true and whether what they're saying is accurate."
"Use your common sense. We're New Yorkers, that's why we're here. You told the court you would put aside whatever view you have about President Trump, the fact that he's running," he said. "If you do that, there will be a very swift non-guilty verdict."
Mr. Blanche argued the jury could not make a serious decision about President Trump based on Mr. Cohen's testimony.
He also argued that Ms. Clifford, the other key witness, "has made a life out of these communications" she had with Donald Trump when they met while he was running "The Apprentice" in 2006.
"Since the story came out in 2018m she's made hundreds and thousands of dollars because of it," Mr. Blanche said. "She wrote a book, she was paid for a documentary ... she owes him somewhere around $600,000."
Mr. Blanche confirmed Mr. Cohen would play a central role in the case.
He argued that after the election, Mr. Cohen wanted a job in the administration and didn't get one.
"You'll hear that he was loyal, he was very loyal to President Trump and the companies for years. But Mr. Cohen was also a criminal. Apart from his work for the Trump companies, he cheated on his taxes, he lied to banks," Mr. Blanche said. "In 2018, he got caught."
Mr. Blanche said it was also not a crime to influence an election.
"You also heard a lot of communication about the 2016 election," Mr. Blanche said.
"Spoiler alert: there's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It's called democracy," he said.
He said one of the witnesses they will call is the woman who kept the ledgers prosecutors have mentioned. She will testify that she worked with another boss, but not President Trump, Mr. Blanche said.
"President Trump had nothing to do, nothing to do with the invoice, with the check being generated, or with the entry on the ledger," Mr. Blanche argued.
He argued the government would not try to counter what he said, instead arguing that President Trump was an alleged accomplice and therefore liable.
Mr. Blanche said the charges were for 34 pieces of paper, related to payments to Mr. Cohen.
"The 34 counts are the invoices Mr. Cohen sent to the people at Trump Tower, the checks, and the ledger notation for legal services. None of this was a crime," he said.
He asked the jury whether a "frugal" businessman would repay $130,000 "to the tune of $420,000," and added that Mr. Cohen was not being repaid, but paid for his job as a personal attorney.
Attorney Todd Blanche gave the opening statement for the defense.
"President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crime. The Manhattan DA's office should never have brought this case," he said.
He said that the prosecutors had the burden of proof, and needed to prove President Trump guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Mr. Colangelo warned the jury that defense attorneys would go after Mr. Cohen to try to discredit him.
"Now, during this trial you will hear a lot about Michael Cohen. I expect the defense will go to great lengths to get you to reject this testimony precisely because it is so damning," Mr. Colangelo said.
"As we discussed in jury selection, you will need to keep an open mind and carefully consider all the evidence," he added.
"You will see evidence at trial that Donald Trump was a very frugal businessman who believed in pinching pennies, watching every dollar, negotiating every bill—it's all over the books that he's written," Mr. Colangelo said. "But when it came time to pay Michael Cohen back for the catch and kill deal, you'll see that he didn't negotiate the price down, he doubled it."
Mr. Colangelo argued that President Trump's willingness to pay showed "just how determined he was to hide ... the overall election conspiracy."
"There was no retainer agreement, Cohen was not getting paid for legal services rendered in 2017. It was instead what they thought was a clever way to pay Cohen back without being too obvious about it," Mr. Colangelo said.
Mr. Colangelo said in January 2017 the topic of repaying Mr. Cohen for $130,000 came up.
"Neither Trump, nor the Trump Organization could write a check to Cohen for $130,000, with a memo line that said 'reimbursement for porn star,'" Mr. Colangelo said.
He argued that Mr. Weisselberg asked Mr. Cohen to bring his bank statement, and then agreed to add $50,000 to the repayment, then agreed to double it to $360,000 to account for taxes.
"This was not spin, this was a planned, coordinated, conspiracy to influence the 2020 election to silence people who had something bad to say about his behavior, using doctored records," Mr. Colangelo said. "It was election fraud."
About a month after the election, Mr. Pecker told Ms. McDougall and Mr. Sajudin they were no longer bound by their non-disclosure agreements, Mr. Colangelo said. Then the following summer, Mr. Pecker was invited to the White House.
"The defendant hosted a thank you dinner to thank Pecker and AMI for their contributions to his campaign," Mr. Colangelo said.
Prosecutors made their case for including the "Access Hollywood" tape in evidence.
When the Washington Post published a story about President Trump being recorded on a hot mic, just one month before election day, "the impact of that tape was immediate and explosive," Mr. Colangelo said. "Prominent allies withdrew their support" and instead condemned him, he argued.
After the tape was released, Ms. Clifford told Mr. Pecker about her story. They signed a $130,000 deal with a non-disclosure agreement, Mr. Colangelo said. He argued this was done with the intent to delay until after election day, and then not pay Ms. Clifford.
A second deal made with former Playboy model Karen McDougall, Mr. Colangelo argued, after National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard heard she was shopping around for a story about an alleged affair with Donald Trump.
Ms. McDougall alleged the affair was both romantic and sexual and lasted over a year.
Mr. Colangelo said the jury will see a "flurry of text messages, the barrage of phone calls" that showed the defendant was desperate to not have this story become public because of its effect on the election.
One involved a former Trump Tower doorman alleging that Donald Trump had a child out of wedlock. Mr. Pecker directed an editor to purchase the rights to the story.
"The evidence will show that Pecker was not acting as a publisher, he was acting as a coconspirator," Mr. Colangelo argued.
The publication paid the doorman $30,000, and it was the first time Mr. Pecker paid anyone for information about Donald Trump, Mr. Colangelo argued. "Even for tabloid journalism, it was a lot of money for a source."
Mr. Colangelo told the jury that tabloids have a practice called "catch and kill" in which they buy information about someone, have the source sign a non-disclosure agreement, and then decline to publish the story.
"So it's a way of buying damaging information, not to publish the information but to hide it," Mr. Colangelo said.
He argued that Mr. Pecker and then-candidate Trump carried out three such deals.
Mr. Colangelo described the roles of Mr. Pecker and Mr. Cohen.
He argued that Mr. Cohen's job "really, was to take care of problems for the defendant."
"He was Trump's fixer," Mr. Colangelo said.
Mr. Colangelo told the jury that the 34 counts of falsifying business records are for the monthly payments to Mr. Cohen that involved allegedly falsifying an invoice, falsely describing a request of legal services rendered and paid, and falsifying entries in the Trump Organization ledger.
He argued the scheme was "disguised" through 34 business records.
Prosecutors, giving their opening statements, alleged that then-candidate Trump orchestrated a criminal scheme to influence an election.
This began at a 2015 meeting in Trump Tower between President Trump, his friend David Pecker, and his friend Michael Cohen, prosecutors alleged. Mr. Pecker was the CEO of American Media Inc., which published celebrity and lifestyle magazines and the National Enquirer.
"Those three men came up with a scheme to influence the election by concealing information about Trump to help him get elected," Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said.
Justice Merchan ignored a question from the defense, asking the jury to be brought in after he issued his decisions.
He will instruct the jury on applicable law, which will take about 30 minutes, before attorneys give their opening statements.
The judge also ruled that President Trump could be asked about past cases. The parties had argued on this during a Friday afternoon hearing.
Prosecutors will seek to impeach President Trump as a witness by pointing to his past record.
The judge ruled that case law establishes that a defendant can be questioned about any prior criminal or vicious acts that may be relevant.
Justice Merchan previously said the infamous "Hollywood Access" recording of President Trump on a hot mic could not be played for jurors. He said in court Monday that perhaps a transcript could be admitted into evidence instead, and will hear arguments from both sides.
"At this point I don’t see any reason why a transcript which accurately summarizes what was said in the tape should not be admitted into evidence," he said.
President Trump noted that his legal team is arguing against New York Attorney General Letitia James about the sufficiency of his $175 million bond.
"She doesn't want me to participate with financial companies in New York so we have a company, I guess, based in California," he said. "I put up $175 million in cash but she says the bonding company is not good."
An appeals court had ruled that President Trump could stay judgment during appeal with a bond of $175 million after his attorneys explained why a $454 million bond had been "impossible" to secure.
"These are all Biden trials," the former president said before heading into the courtroom. "This is election interference, everybody knows it."
He reminded the crowd that the trial was preventing him from campaigning in other states.
"I just want people to understand that: this is done for purposes of hurting of the opponent of the worst president of the history of our country," he said.
On the day opening arguments started in the so-called “hush-money” trial in New York, former President Donald Trump called on would-be demonstrators to “go out and peacefully protest” the case.
“America Loving Protesters should be allowed to protest at the front steps of Courthouses, all over the Country,” the former president wrote on social media, making reference to demonstrators who have appeared in front of the Manhattan courthouse where his trial is being held. Those protests are “allowed for those who are destroying our Country on the Radical Left, a two tiered system of justice,” he added. “Free Speech and Assembly has been ‘CHILLED’ for USA SUPPORTERS.”
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