Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York

Image source, REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

The first-ever criminal trial of a former US president will start on 25 March. That's the major takeaway from today's court hearing in New York.

Donald Trump sat in the courtroom and listened as his lawyers tried to have the case thrown out, but their efforts were denied.

So the next steps will be selecting a jury.

But finding an impartial jury in New York City presents its own problems. How do you pull together a group of Americans, particularly New Yorkers, who have no opinion on the divisive former president? It won't be easy.

You can read a full wrap of today from our court reporters Kayla Epstein and Chloe Kim here.

And there's another Trump-related case that's going on in Georgia, which we have live coverage of here.

Our writers today have been George Wright and Ali Abbas Ahmadi, and this page was edited by Johanna Chisholm and myself.

Thanks for joining us.

Chloe Kim
Reporting from court

After a court hearing that lasted about an hour and a half, it's now confirmed that Donald Trump's first criminal trial will begin next month. Here's everything else we learned during today's proceedings:

• Jury selection will begin on 25 March, and Trump's motion to throw out the case was denied
• Todd Blanche, one of Trump's lawyers, told the court this will interrupt the primary season, alleging that it is "completely election interference”

• Prosecutors want jurors to be asked questions about QAnon and election conspiracies
• The defence wanted to ask if jurors have ever put a political bumper sticker on their car or a political sign in their yard
• Both sides want to ask what media outlets jurors consume - with the prosecution suggesting they ask about conservative commentators like Sean Hannity, Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson, Mark Levin, and Ben Shapiro

Image source, EPA

As things wind down in New York, it’s heating up in Georgia, where Trump and several of his allies are charged with trying to overturn his election loss in the state.

But today’s hearing doesn't actually concern the election interference allegations. Instead, the focus is on Fani Willis, the district attorney leading the Fulton County case, and whether she should be disqualified because of her romantic relationship with the case’s top prosecutor, Nathan Wade.

Here are some of the main lines from that hearing, which you can follow live here.

• Robin Yeartie, a witness called by Trump's co-defendant's lawyers, has proved the most damaging to Willis' credibility. She says there's "no doubt" Wade and Willis' relationship began before Willis hired him as a prosecutor
• That's important because the pair maintain their romantic relationship began only after Willis hired him
• For their part, Willis’ team is trying to paint this witness as a disgruntled employee
• Wade took the stand and was forced to lay out as detailed a timeline as possible of his relationship with Willis. He insists their relationship began after he was hired
• A central argument that the Trump team lawyer is trying to make is that Willis benefited financially from the pair’s relationship, but Wade is denying these allegations and insists they split the costs of shared holidays
• He says the two of them did not keep track of exactly who paid for what, because in a relationship, "you're not keeping a ledger of things"

Image source, Reuters

Earlier today, Donald Trump's team raised issues with one of the prosecution's star witnesses, Michael Cohen.

They argue that Cohen, Trump's ex-lawyer, perjured himself when he testified in a separate civil trial about the former president's business practices.

So why is Cohen important to the "hush money" case?

In 2016, days before the US presidential election, adult film actress Stormy Daniels said Cohen paid her $130,000 (£103,500) in "hush money" to keep her quiet about an alleged affair.

It is not illegal to pay someone compensation in exchange for an NDA.

But prosecutors have focused on how Cohen's reimbursement was recorded in Trump's accounts. He's accused of falsifying his business records by categorising the payment as for legal fees.

In 2018, Cohen was imprisoned after pleading guilty to tax evasion and breaking campaign finance rules, in part related to his payment to Daniels and another alleged Trump lover.

Although he initially said that Trump had nothing to do with the payments, Cohen later testified under oath that Trump had directed him to make the $130,000 hush payment.

He also said the president had reimbursed him.

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump’s many court cases have done little to damage his bid to become the Republican presidential nominee.

According to some experts, the criminal charges he faces - which Trump claims are politically motivated - have boosted support from his base.

His only remaining rival is former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley. Recent polling suggests she is trailing far behind him in the next primary election in South Carolina.

Trump has so far won every competition between the two of them by a significant margin.

Trump will most likely face off against incumbent President Joe Biden, making for a 2020 rematch.

Image source, Reuters

Trump's rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Nikki Haley, has reacted to his day in court.

In a post on X, external (formerly Twitter), Haley outlines Trump's current and upcoming legal battles and says he is "spending millions of campaign donations on legal fees".

Haley adds: "All of this chaos will only lead to more losses for Republicans up and down the ticket".

Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, and the next big vote is the South Carolina primary on 24 February.

Donald Trump appeared at a pre-trial hearing in a New York court over allegations of "hush money" paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Here are some images of how his morning played out.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Trump has juggled court and campaigning beforepublished at 17:27 Greenwich Mean Time 15 February

17:27 GMT 15 February

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

One of the main arguments Donald Trump’s lawyer made earlier today for moving the trial date was the alleged burden it would place on the 77-year-old as he runs for president.

Many states will vote in primaries in February, and even more vote in March.

But this won't be the first time Trump has been forced to juggle his court appearances with his campaign stops.

In fact, he flew straight from his victory in the Iowa caucuses to E Jean Carroll’s defamation trial against him the next day.

And during that trial, he attended court in the morning before jetting to New Hampshire to campaign in the evening.

Despite his court obligations, Trump handily won both contests.

Polls show him leading his only remaining opponent, Nikki Haley, by large margins in the Republican primary.

Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump’s property business might be under pressure from his court battles. But his plans for a media empire may be just getting started.

US financial regulators have finally cleared a proposal to combine his Trump Media & Technology Group, operator of his social media platform Truth Social, with a publicly listed firm, Digital World Acquisition Corp, the companies announced.

The companies said they would announce a date for shareholders to vote on the plan within days, sending shares in Digital World up more than 14%.

The stock price has nearly tripled since the start of the year as Trump’s liklihood to be the Republican candidate for president tightened and hopes for the deal, first announced in October 2021, might actually happen.

When the deal was announced, the companies said the merger would inject nearly $300m to help Trump Media grow. But it has faced years of delay amid legal issues, accusations of insider trading, external and misleading investors, external.

We've been covering two of Donald Trump's legal cases today, one in New York and one in Georgia.

But these are just two of his many legal cases.

The 77-year-old, who is the first former president in US history to be criminally charged, faces 91 charges across four separate cases.

And his legal troubles don't end there. Trump also faces several civil cases relating to, among other things, the business empire that made his name.

There are other crucial legal matters that are yet to be settled too, including a Supreme Court decision on if he can run as a presidential candidate.

It's a complicated web of legal matters.

But not to worry, we've explained it all for you here.

Image source, Reuters

In a statement shared shortly after court had adjourned, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said that he was "pleased" with the judge's decision to not dismiss the case against Donald Trump.

"We look forward to presenting our case in court on March 25, 2024," says the 50-year-old district attorney in a post on X, external.

Bragg made history last year when he brought the charges against Trump, which accused him of covering up a potential sex scandal with adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election.

Chloe Kim
Reporting from court

With court adjourned, let's circle back to an interesting topic that was discussed earlier regarding selecting a jury.

One of the questions proposed is whether a juror has read or listened to anything from Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen - like his book Disloyal.

The question right after that asks whether jurors have read any of Trump's books, like The Art of the Deal.

Other highlights from the questionnaire include:

• The defence wants to ask jurors if they ever put a political bumper sticker on their car or candidate sign on their lawn
• Justice Merchan says that if they plan to strike jurors because they are Democrats or Republicans, they're going to run out of people very quickly
• The prosecution adds they're not interested in if someone likes Trump or not, but whether they can be impartial and fair considering the facts
• They add that there won't be a single juror who doesn't know who Trump is or who doesn't have an opinion - as he was the president of the United States

More now from Trump's speech outside of the courthouse. After railing against the hush money case against him, he went on to speak about Nato.

Trump has come under fire in recent days for saying he would "encourage" Russia to attack any Nato member that did not meet its defence spending quota.

"Nato countries have to pay up, they have to pay their bills. The United States is in the $200m and they're in for $25 million," he says, without saying which country he's referring to.

Nato nations "laugh at the stupidity of the United States of America, when we give $60bn every time somebody comes and asks for it", he adds, in an apparent reference to Ukraine.

"We shouldn't be doing that. They're laughing at us," he says.

Earlier this week, President Joe Biden blasted Trump's criticism of Nato as "dumb", "shameful" and "un-American".

Trump has just left the courtroom and spoke briefly to the media.

He says "nobody has ever seen anything like it in this country, it's a disgrace", adding that he believes the case is "rigged".

"They want to keep me nice and busy so I can't campaign so hard," the former president claims.

He says he'll be on the campaign trail soon before taking a swipe at Joe Biden, saying the president "will be sleeping".

Chloe Kim
Reporting from court

The proceedings lasted about an hour and a half.

Blanche, in his final argument, says that having Trump for the next two months consumed by this trial instead of campaigning “should not happen in this country”.

Justice Merchan then stops him and asks: "What’s your legal argument?"

"I'll see you March 25th," he says, ending the day in court.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Court is over and Trump stands up. He cast a low glance over at the press and lawyers assembled in the audience and then walks slowly down the centre aisle and out the door.

At one point, a spectator in the last row began to clap - though it was not clear for whom. Several officers immediately yelled at the person to be quiet.

The New York hearing has finished for the day.

Stick with us, we might hear from Donald Trump as he leaves court.

You'll be able to watch that at the live stream at the top of this page. Just hit the play button.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from the courtroom

Image source, Reuters

I'm sitting about four rows behind Trump. He's listening to his attorney speak, but he also appears slightly bored and restless. He's leaning back in his chair and occasionally leaning over to confer with his legal team.

This is, after all, a procedural hearing about dates and questionnaires and discovery, not bombshell evidence or witnesses who have a long personal history with the former president.

Trump appears far more subdued than he was during his recent defamation trial brought by the writer E Jean Carroll, when he grew agitated at his own lawyers and sparred with the judge after he was caught making comments mid-trial from the defence table.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from the courtroom

While this isn't yet set in stone, we're starting to get some details about how long the trial will likely take.

The prosecution says they need at least 15-17 days to present their case and may need more if both parties can't agree to certain stipulations. The defence will also need time to present their side.

Justice Merchan has said the court won't sit on Wednesdays, or on 29 April.

Todd Blanche brings up the fact that the Jewish holiday of Passover will occur during the trial, and that some of Trump's legal team will observe it.

While Justice Merchan has said that the court could not take a week or two off, he is willing to consider ways to work around the holiday.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Justice Merchan is going over the questionnaire the court will give to prospective jurors in order to weed out people who cannot judge the case fairly.

The prosecution wants to borrow questions that Judge Lewis Kaplan asked during Trump's E Jean Carroll defamation trial earlier this year.

Kaplan asked:

• Whether potential jurors believed that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump
• If they believed the QAnon conspiracy theory
• If they belonged to far-right militia groups or far left groups like Antifa

Prosecutors think those questions are appropriate here. They also want to ask if a juror thinks the legal system is conspiring against Trump.

“If they think this whole thing is rigged... if someone answers this question in the affirmative they just can’t be a juror,” a lawyer from the prosecution said.

Todd Blanche has objected to these sorts of questions, claiming many Americans believe election conspiracies or see the legal system as unfair.

“Over half the people in this country believe the election was stolen,” Blanche claims.

That number is inflated - about 62% of Americans believe Joe Biden's election was legitimate and about a third think it was stolen, a Washington Post poll, external from January found.