Attorneys completed a marathon day of closing arguments on Tuesday in former President Trump’s hush money trial, marking the near end of the weeks-long case that saw nearly two dozen witnesses take the stand.
The day began with Trump attorney Todd Blanche delivering about three hours of closing arguments in the morning. He was followed by Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office who stretched his portion of closing statements to nearly five hours.
Court adjourned at roughly 8 p.m., by far the longest day of the trial yet
The final statements from both sides come before the case gets handed to the jury, which will decide whether to make Trump the first convicted president in U.S. history.
Follow below for a recap.
Court has broken for the day at roughly 8 p.m., by far the longest day of the trial, which normally ended by around 4:30 p.m.
Trump did not stop to speak to the cameras, as he usually does at the end of the day.
Given the late hour, the judge said the proceedings will resume tomorrow a half-hour late at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
— Zach Schonfeld
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass has concluded his marathon closing argument after more than four hours.
“There is no special standard for this defendant. Donald Trump cannot shoot someone on 5th avenue during rush hour and get away with it,” Steinglass said, drawing an objection from Trump’s lawyer that was sustained.
The prosecutor also told jurors that Trump was “cloaked in lies” and the evidence is “overwhelming.”
“Like in any other case, it can be judged by a jury of his peers based on the evidence and nothing else,” said Steinglass. “Remember, you are the ones who have the opportunity to observe every witness and see each document. You have to put aside the distractions, the press, the politics, the noise. Focus on the evidence.”
— Zach Schonfeld
To secure a conviction, prosecutors must show Trump falsified business records with an intent to commit or aid some other crime.
Prosecutors had long suggested four crimes that could be used as the so-called “bump up.” The judge prevented prosecutors from arguing one of the four at trial but allowed the three others.
But now, Joshua Steinglass is making clear that the district attorney’s office intends to move forward with only one of those remaining theories to the jury: that Trump intended to violate a state election law making it a crime to conspire to promote a political candidate by “unlawful means.”
Those unlawful means, Steinglass said, includes violations of federal campaign finance law, among others.
— Zach Schonfeld
Steinglass told jurors to reject Trump’s theory that Michael Cohen went “rogue” and is now lying to get revenge at his former boss for three reasons:
First, Steinglass said Trump is a micromanager and it would be “inconceivable” he would stick “his head in the sand” for the payments to Cohen.
Second, Steinglass described Cohen as a self-promoter, insisting he would’ve wanted to keep Trump in the loop for credit.
And third, the prosecutor noted that the alleged scheme benefited Trump.
It “benefitted one person and one person only, and that’s the defendant,” Steinglass said.
— Zach Schonfeld
Steinglass, well beyond his third hour of closing arguments, pulled up one of Trump’s Truth Social posts in which he calls porn actor Stormy Daniels “horseface” and Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-fixer, “SleazeBag.”
“I did NOTHING wrong in the ‘Horseface’ case,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in March 2023.
The post was issued days before Trump was indicted in the case, and Steinglass said it shows Trump was “clearly trying to pressure both Cohen and Daniels to back off.”
“She knows nothing about me other than her conman lawyer, Avanatti, and convicted liar and felon, jailbird Michael Cohen, may have schemed up. Never had an affair with her, just another false acquisition by a SleazeBag. Witch Hunt!” Trump wrote in the post.
— Zach Schonfeld
Joshua Steinglass told jurors that although the campaign component is the “why,” lies in New York business records make up the “what” of the case.”
“You cannot lie in your business records,” Steinglass said. “And that’s what this case is really about at its core, cheating in the defendant’s books, just like hundreds of other cases that have come before.”
At about 6:30 p.m., Steinglass asked if he should stop his summation or “power through.”
“You guys good to go a little bit longer?” Steinglass asked the jury.
“Alright!” he said after the jurors agreed, continuing on.
Steinglass’s argument has now lasted roughly 3.5 hours.
— Zach Schonfeld
Jurors are again seeing excerpts from Trump’s books, in which the former president suggests he is frugal and monitors even the small-dollar transactions at his business.
“Pay attention to the small numbers in your finances, such as percentages and cents,” reads one excerpt from “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire.”
“Numbers that seem trivial add up and have enormous implications,” it continued. “My parents hammered frugality into me at an early age, and it’s the most important money management skill a person can use. Call it penny-pinching if you want to; I call it financial smarts.”
— Zach Schonfeld
Steinglass has moved on to the 34 records that each correspond to one of Trump’s charges of falsifying business records.
They comprise a series of invoices from Michael Cohen for $35,000 each month, general ledger entries reflecting the transactions and checks used to pay him.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Steinglass said. “Is this guy going to go through every single month’s worth of checks? The answer is no.”
— Zach Schonfeld
Steinglass again showed jurors one of Trump’s tweets soon after news of the Stormy Daniels hush money deal went public, admitting the payments to Michael Cohen were a reimbursement.
“Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA,” Trump wrote on Twitter, now known as X, in May 2018.
— Zach Schonfeld
Steinglass is repeatedly rejecting the defense’s theory that the $420,000 paid to Cohen in 2017 was for legal services and not actually reimbursement for the hush money payment.
The prosecutor gave out a slight laugh at times, saying he was “almost speechless” that Trump’s lawyers had not given up on the point.
“I guess if they admit that this was truly a reimbursement, then they have to admit the business records were false in the first place,” Steinglass said.
Moments later, Steinglass noted that Cohen testified he only did about 10 hours of legal work for Trump that year.
“Do you think there’s any chance that Trump would have paid 42,000 an hour for legal work by Michael Cohen? Now that’d be a pretty smooth rate,” the prosecutor joked.
The jurors laughed at some of Steinglass’s comments.
— Zach Schonfeld
Joshua Steinglass has been presenting his closing argument in a chronological format, reminding jurors about dozens of phone calls, texts and emails sent between the August 2015 Trump Tower meeting prosecutors claim kick-started the conspiracy and the 2016 election.
Just before the latest break, Steinglass reached Election Day 2016 after walking through each of the three hush money deals.
Judge Juan Merchan has indicated he intends to continue moving ahead, noting that some jurors have made child care arrangements for the evening.
“I was watching the jurors. They look pretty alert to me. I don’t think we’re losing anyone,” Merchan said.
— Zach Schonfeld
Court is going late today.
After more than 90 minutes of argument, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the judge he was only about one-third of the way through his summation.
At that pace, Steinglass would not finish until well into the evening.
The judge, who has long signaled reluctance to breaking up the summations, said they will take another break at 5 p.m. and see how the jury is doing.
— Zach Schonfeld
The jurors hearing Trump’s case appear to be losing energy as closing arguments drag on.
Several jurors have begun peering around the courtroom as prosecutor Joshua Steinglass makes his final pitch.
At least one juror is struggling to keep her eyes open, putting her head in her hands. Another has rested his eyes for several seconds at a time. And jokes from the prosecutor have received fewer laughs than similar defense jest received.
Despite that, most jurors appear to be trying their best to remain engaged. Even through fluttering eyes, they are looking at the screens in front of them or Steinglass.
— Ella Lee
Steinglass, the prosecutor, is walking through various calls and texts between key players in case at length, even as Steinglass told jurors he would “try not to bore you.”
Steinglass is returning to the phone records as he again explains the so-called “catch-and-kill” agreement that led to payouts to three people to stay quiet about salacious accusations against Trump during his 2016 campaign.
Jurors have again seen phone records involving Michael Cohen, employees at the National Enquirer and its parent company and Trump’s bodyguard.
— Zach Schonfeld
Steinglass pushed back on assertions from Trump attorney Todd Blanche, who told jurors earlier in the day that prosecutors’ theory of a criminal conspiracy was simply the democratic process and standard campaigning.
“In reality, this agreement at Trump Tower was the exact opposite. It was the subversion of democracy,” Steinglass said.
“Democracy gives people the right to elect their leaders, but that rests on the premise that voters have access to accurate information about the candidates,” he continued. “The entire purpose of this meeting at Trump Tower was to deny that access. To manipulate and defraud the voters. To pull the wool over their eyes in a coordinated fashion.”
— Zach Schonfeld