Donald Trump Hush Money Trial: Highlights from Day 1 as Jury Selection Gets Underway

Day 1: Recap and what's next

Day 1 of former President Donald Trump's hush money trial has concluded. After several hours, jury selection began Monday afternoon inside the New York courtroom.

More than 500 New Yorkers are expected to fill out questionnaires about their political beliefs before 12 are chosen, along with six alternate jurors. The process is expected to take one or two weeks.

The first group of 96 jurors made their way into the courtroom today and were sworn in. More than 50 were dismissed fairly quickly for saying they could not be fair and impartial. A handful of others were excused when asked if there was another reason they could not serve. Those reasons were not disclosed; the process will continue tomorrow.

Some key takeaways:

• Monday morning, Judge Juan Merchan reiterated his ruling that prosecutors cannot play the infamous Access Hollywood tape to jurors because it's so prejudicial.
• The judge will also allow testimony of Karen McDougal, a model who claimed to have an affair with Trump.
• Trump's motion for recusal was denied; Merchan said the arguments lack basis.
• A series of National Enquirer stories can be shown to jurors. The stories include negative coverage about Trump's 2016 political rivals.

Possible gag order violations:

The prosecution introduced a motion Monday to sanction Trump for social media posts that they argue violate his gag order. The prosecution requested Trump be fined $1,000 for each of three potential violations. Judge Merchan announced he will hear arguments in the matter on Tuesday, April 23 at 9:30 a.m.

What are prospective jurors being asked?

Each prospective juror will answer 42 questions that are intended to weed out people who can't be impartial. According to a letter sent to attorneys by Judge Merchan, some of those questions include:

• Without telling us your address, in what neighborhood do you live?
• Which of the following print publications, cable and/or network programs, or online media such as websites, blogs, or social media platforms do you visit, read, or watch? (with several options)
• Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked for any company or organization that is owned or run by Donald Trump or anyone in his family?
• Have you ever attended a rally or campaign event for Donald Trump?
• Do you currently follow Donald Trump on any social media site or have you done so in the past?
• Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked or volunteered for any anti-Trump group or organization?
• Have you ever considered yourself a supporter of or belonged to any of the following: the QAnon movement, Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, Three Percenters, Boogaloo Boys, Antifa?

Trial schedule:

The trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks. Trump is required to be in court because it's a criminal case. He has said he would testify and would also continue campaigning.

Court will not be held on Wednesdays. The trial is scheduled to resume tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. ET. Newsweek will have a reporter in the courtroom and will bring you the latest updates.

Quick background:

Trump is set to face trial for charges of allegedly falsifying business documents in connection to an alleged hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Last year, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump in a 34-count indictment over the alleged hush money payment, which prosecutors allege was intended to prevent Daniels from discussing her claims of having an affair with the former president.

Trump: Judge won't allow him to attend Barron's high school graduation

Former President Donald Trump briefly addressed the media as he left the courthouse at the end of the first day of his hush money trial.

"It looks like the judge will not let me go to the graduation of my son who's worked very, very hard and he is a great student," Trump said, adding the judge won't allow him to escape this "scam" trial.

Trump's son Eric also responded, saying, "Judge Merchan is truly heartless in not letting a father attend his son's graduation." However, it's appears Merchan has not yet made a decision in the matter.

Merchan did deny Trump's request to attend Supreme Court arguments on April 25 in his presidential immunity case. New York state law requires that Trump be in the courtroom during his trial because it is criminal.

Court has adjourned

Judge Merchan stops day 1 of the criminal trial, ending proceedings on time.

Day 2 will resume tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.

Potential juror: "No one is above the law"

One prospective juror tells the court, "No one is above the law, whether it's a sitting president, a former president or a janitor."

The Upper West Side resident is a bookseller who is married to a lawyer and has two children. He remains in the pool of prospective jurors for now.

Over half of today's jurors excused, saying they can't be impartial

At least 50 of the first 96 prospective jurors were excused after they said they could not be fair and impartial, according to the press pool. Another nine were excused when the judge asked if there was another reason they could not serve. Those reasons were not disclosed.

The court goes one-by-one through each of the remaining dozens of possible jurors, asking them to answer the 42 questions on the questionnaire.

There are another 104 prospective jurors in the courthouse waiting to be called.

Alina Habba: Why Merchan should be removed

Trump attorney Alina Habba explained why she's not in Manhattan at former President Donald Trump's criminal trial this week– she only practices civil law.

Though she's not in the courtroom, Habba blasted the proceedings, pointing to why she says Judge Juan Merchan should not be presiding over the case.

"In New York, which is different than most states, there's actually a law against judges working on a trial where they or someone in their six degrees of separation has any interest financially," Habba said in a Monday interview with The Benny Show, a politically conservative podcast.

"We do know that there's affiliations there with his daughter."

Potential jurors enter courtroom

It's just after 2:30 p.m. ET, and the first group of 96 potential jurors are now entering the New York courtroom.

They will be sworn in before questioning begins.

Jurors wait to enter court, here's what they will be asked

Jurors are still waiting to enter the courtroom. The first group will include 96 potential jurors.

Judge Juan Merchan said both legal teams will receive the names of potential jurors, according to reporters inside the courtroom. The list cannot be copied or photographed and must be returned to the court, he instructed.

Each prospective juror will answer 42 questions that are intended to weed out people who can't be impartial.

According to a letter sent to attorneys by Merchan, some of those questions are:

• Without telling us your address, in what neighborhood do you live?
• Which of the following print publications, cable and/or network programs, or online media such as websites, blogs, or social media platforms do you visit, read, or watch? (with several options)
• Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked for any company or organization that is owned or run by Donald Trump or anyone in his family?
• Have you ever attended a rally or campaign event for Donald Trump?
• Do you currently follow Donald Trump on any social media site or have you done so in the past?
• Have you, a relative, or a close friend ever worked or volunteered for any anti-Trump group or organization?
• Have you ever considered yourself a supporter of or belonged to any of the following: the QAnon movement, Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, Three Percenters, Boogaloo Boys, Antifa?
• Do you have any feelings or opinions about how Mr. Trump is being treated in this case?
• Have you read (or listened to audio) to books or podcasts by Michael Cohen or Mark Pomerantz?
• Can you promise to guard against allowing stereotypes or attitudes about individuals or about groups of people, referred to as an implicit bias, influence your decision?

Judge sets hearing date for potential gag order violations

UPDATE: Merchan just changed the date on the hearing on Trump's alleged violations of the gag order to April 23 at 9:30 am.

Good afternoon. It's 1:40 p.m. ET.

Court has resumed following a lunch break. Former President Donald Trump is also back in the courtroom.

Before lunch, the prosecution introduced a motion to sanction Trump for social media posts that they argue violate his gag order. The prosecution requested Trump be fined $1,000 for each of three potential violations.

Merchan initially announced he will hear arguments over the potential gag order violations on Wednesday, April 24 at 2:15 p.m. ET. He later moved the hearing to Tuesday, April 23 at 9:30 a.m. Court will not be in session on Wednesdays throughout the duration of the hush money trial.

The historic trial has been underway for several hours and jury selection has yet to begin. More than 500 New Yorkers are expected to fill out questionnaires about their political beliefs before 12 are chosen, along with six alternate jurors. The process is expected to take one or two weeks.

Elon Musk calls case a "corruption of the law"

Elon Musk called former President Donald Trump's hush money case a "corruption of the law."

The billionaire responded to a video posted on his platform X, formerly Twitter, by former 2024 GOP Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy slamming the case.

"This isn't the pursuit of justice, it's a political persecution that is tearing our country apart," Ramaswamy, Trump's once rival, said.

Musk responded saying, "This case is obviously a corruption of the law. Lawfare."

Trump says he would "absolutely" testify

Former President Donald Trump said he would "absolutely" testify in his hush money trial, calling it a "scam."

"I'm testifying," he told reporters on Friday. "I tell the truth, I mean, all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there is no case."

Former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers said the move would be "risky" for Trump.

"As soon as a defendant testifies, everything else kinda fades away," Rodgers said in a Monday interview with CNN. "It would be really risky for him to testify and there's no way he's gonna do it if they don't get a really good ruling from the judge on what prosecutors can and can't go into on cross-examination."

Cohen's legal adviser: "Impossible" to silence Trump with gag order

It would be impossible for a judge to silence Donald Trump with a gag order, Michael Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, has said.

Davis said that Judge Juan Merchan is trying to ignore Trump's social media outbursts, "just like all the other judges" in the former president's legal cases.

Davis was reacting to Trump's bitter attack on Cohen on Saturday, in which he called him a "disgraced attorney and felon."

Cohen is expected to be one of the key witnesses in the hush money trial.

Read the full story from Newsweek's Sean O'Driscoll.

Lunch break

The court is taking lunch break until 1:30 p.m. ET.

Prosecutors request Trump be fined for violating gag order

Judge Juan Merchan reads Donald Trump his rights, to which the former president says he understands.

The prosecution has also introduced a motion to sanction Trump for social media posts that they say violate his gag order, according to reporters inside the courtroom. Prosecutors requested that Trump be fined $1,000 for each of the three violations. The judge says he will not make a decision until after lunch.

Judge reminds attorneys of roughly "500 jurors waiting"

More than two hours into Day 1 of the trial, the court has still yet to call any prospective jurors into the room. As Donald Trump's lawyers asked about filing more pre-trial motions, Judge Juan Merchan reminded attorneys, "We have about 500 jurors waiting."

As Newsweek's Katherine Fung reports, Trump's team suffered two losses this morning. Merchan rejected two efforts from his team, denying the former president's motion for recusal and granting prosecutors' requests to show jurors headlines and stories from the National Enquirer.

Judge to consider if Trump violated gag order

The prosecution argued that it should be allowed to admit former President Donald Trump's tweets and social media posts as evidence, specifically those that show how his public comments about Michael Cohen changed as the two fell out.

Around noon, Merchan ruled that prosecutors could not introduce the posts about Michael Cohen during direct examination, but that it will be admissible upon redirect examination.

Questions over gag order violation:

While arguing that those posts should be admissible, the district attorney's office announced it was moving to hold Trump in contempt for allegedly violating his gag order. Prosecutors pointed to a Truth Social post from last week in which Trump referred to Cohen and Daniels as "sleazebags."

The gag order prohibits public statements about potential witnesses "concerning their potential participation" in the case.

Trump's team argued that those should not be admissible because the former president was just defending himself and that presidential immunity would protect those posts.

The court broke for recess before Merchan issued a ruling.

Trump back in court

Former President Donald Trump walked back into the courtroom as court returns from a brief break.

Judge to allow National Enquirer stories into evidence

Judge Juan Merchan allows prosecutors to show jurors headlines from the National Enquirer. The stories include negative coverage about Trump's 2016 political rivals, as well as positive coverage they argue was approved by the former president before publication.

It's likely that the admission of this evidence will be used by the state to prove that this was part of the "catch and kill" scheme that kept Karen McDougal's alleged affair with Trump out of the news cycle.

Break

The court has taken a short break.

Prosecution cannot play Access Hollywood tape during trial

Judge Juan Merchan reiterated his previous ruling that the prosecution cannot play the Access Hollywood tape during the trial. Merchan said the actual tape "should not come in" because it's so prejudicial.

However, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office will be allowed to use a transcript of the infamous tape, which emerged just ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors can also show emails that were sent within Trump's campaign about it, showing how the former president's inner circle responded and their efforts to prevent the tape from becoming public.

Merchan also denied a request from the prosecution to include evidence about allegations of sexual assault against Trump that surfaced after the tape came out, explaining at this point, those claims are rumors.

The judge also ruled that prosecutors could not use Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll case. In the deposition, Trump said "historically" it is "largely" true that stars can grab women by the genitals "unfortunately or fortunately." Then, when asked if he considered himself a star, the former president responded, "I think you can say that, yeah." That testimony will not be allowed to be introduced in the Manhattan criminal trial.

Judge allows testimony of Karen McDougal

Judge Juan Merchan allows for testimony about Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model who says she indirectly received a hush money payment after claiming to have an affair with Trump.

Merchan ruled that witnesses would be able to testify about the months-long alleged affair, which reportedly happened while Melania Trump was pregnant, but that they would not be allowed to discuss whether it happened during her pregnancy or when she had a newborn.

"At this moment, the prejudicial value of that exceeds the probative value," the judge ruled.

Demonstrators gather outside of court

Demonstrators continue gathering outside of the New York courthouse where former President Donald Trump's historic trial is underway.

A group of about 200 Trump supporters are outside of court, along with a group of about 40 who are protesting, according to the Associated Press.

A small group of protesters were seen clashing early Monday morning, while several others held a large banner reading, "No one is above the law."

Meanwhile, supporters held American flags and banners that read Trump for 2024 and 2028.

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Trump's team asks for changes to jury questionnaire

Former President Donald Trump's legal team asks Judge Juan Merchan to allow changes to the jury questionnaire.

This includes several questions asking prospective jurors about whether they have worked for an anti-Trump organization, attended an anti-Trump rally, signed up for an anti-Trump newsletter or followed any anti-Trump social media accounts. The defense raised issue with the term "anti-Trump" being too vague.

But the judge stood by the questions, saying there was no "asymmetry" in the questionnaire and ruling that it is "irrelevant" whether or not someone likes Trump.

There are also questions asking possible jurors if they've worked for political entities associated with Trump, attended a Trump campaign event, subscribed to a newsletter run on the former president's behalf or followed him on social media.

Trump's team asked for day off for son Barron's graduation

Trial will not be in session on Wednesdays, Judge Juan Merchan said before beginning the jury selection process.

To avoid scheduling conflicts for any jurors observing religious holidays, court will also be out April 22, 23, 29 and 30.

Trump's team asked that trial proceedings be canceled for May 17 so that the former President can attend his son Barron's high school graduation. The defense also requested that June 3 be off so another member of the team could attend their son's graduation.

Merchan said he could not rule on the dates at this point in the trial and that it would depend if the trial was proceeding according to schedule.

Jury selection is expected to last one or two weeks, with the overall trial expected to last six to eight weeks.

Judge denies Trump's motion for recusal

Judge Juan Merchan starts the trial off by denying Trump's motion for recusal, telling the court that the former President's arguments lack basis.

Trump has accused the judge of being biased against him and called on him to recuse himself from the case. The former president has also repeatedly attacked Merchan's daughter over her political consulting work, which includes employment at a Democratic firm that worked with Joe Biden's 2020 campaign.

Now: Trial begins

It's 10 a.m. ET and former President Donald Trump's hush money trial is now underway in Manhattan. Judge Juan Merchan has entered the courtroom, according to reporters inside.

Trump is seated between his attorneys, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove.

Pictures: Trump is seated in court with his legal team

Former President Donald Trump is now seated inside the courtroom with his legal team; potential jurors will begin entering soon.

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Judge Juan Merchan provided attorneys with a jury questionnaire. In part, he will ask potential jurors, "please do not wait until after you have been selected as a juror to tell me that you cannot serve or that you cannot be fair and impartial."

Read the full letter here.

Watch: Trump's message as he walks into courthouse

Former President Donald Trump made brief remarks as he entered the courthouse around 9:30 a.m. ET.

"This is political persecution," he told the media, adding, "it's a case that should have never been brought."

Trump called out President Joe Biden for being "very much involved" in the case.

"It's an assault on America," he said. "I'm very honored to be here."

Trump can eliminate 10 jurors without explanation

Former President Donald Trump can eliminate 10 jurors from his Stormy Daniels trial without giving a reason, a legal expert tells Newsweek.

Greg Germain, a legal professor at Syracuse University in New York, said that during jury selection for the case, the prosecutors and Trump's legal team would have the right to eliminate 10 jurors each without explanation because Trump is charged with a Class E felony—which, under New York law, allows both sides to eliminate 10 jurors without cause.

The long process of jury selection in the case is set to begin momentarily. More than 500 New Yorkers are expected to fill out questionnaires about their political beliefs before 12 are chosen, along with six alternate jurors.

The prosecution seeks to prove that before the 2016 presidential election, Trump paid two women—adult-film star Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal—not to disclose his alleged affairs with them, Newsweek's Sean O'Driscoll explains.

Trump is also accused of making payments to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed to know that Trump allegedly fathered a child with another woman. Trump has denied all the allegations and says he is the target of a political witch hunt.

Trump arrives at court

It's just after 9 a.m. ET in Manhattan and former President Donald Trump has now entered court.

"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!" Trump posted on Truth Social.

Now: Trump headed to court

Former President Donald Trump waved as he walked out of Trump Tower just before 9 a.m. ET. He is now headed to Manhattan Criminal Court.

This morning, Trump lashed out against the gag order issued by Judge Juan Merchan in the hush money case.

"I want my VOICE back," Trump posted on Truth Social. "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!"

What to expect

Former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money case is scheduled to get underway within the hour in New York City. Here's what to expect:

Jury selection:
Jury selection begins on Monday and is expected to last one or two weeks. Each juror will answer 42 questions that are intended to weed out people who can't be impartial. Some of the questions include where potential jurors get their news and whether they've attended Trump's rallies or protests against him. Jurors will only be referred to by their juror numbers to keep their identities private out of concerns for their safety.

How long will the trial last?
The Manhattan trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET.

What is Trump charged with?
Trump is set to face trial for charges of allegedly falsifying business documents in connection to an alleged hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Last year, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump in a 34-count indictment over the alleged hush money payment, which prosecutors allege was intended to prevent Daniels from discussing her claims of having an affair with the former president.

Newsweek senior reporter Katherine Fung will be reporting from inside the courtroom.

Donald Trump will be in court

While Trump wasn't always present for his civil trial in New York in the fall, state law requires that he be in the room during his criminal trial. The only way that Trump won't be present during any of the trial is if the judge has to remove him from the courtroom because of his behavior, according to New York law.

Trump has argued that the commitments he has to his legal issues are meant to disrupt his presidential campaign.

Read more from Newsweek's Andrew Stanton.

Alvin Bragg has raised over $800k since indicting Trump

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has raised more than $800,000 since Trump was indicted, according to campaign finance records.

State campaign finance data shows that Bragg has raked in $845,253 between March 30, 2023, and the latest reporting date, January 12, 2024. Donations from New York State accounted for an overwhelming majority, 72%, of the over 800 contributions he received over that time period.

Only one of his 20 largest donations was an out-of-state contribution.