Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We’re going over more details from the Stormy Daniels agreement, including damages for any breach of the contract.

The deal lists a $1m penalty per breach.

Steinglass asks if it was unusual to have such a high damages amount compared to Daniels’ nondisclosure payment - $130,000.

Yes, Keith Davidson responds.

“I believe that this paragraph, the way it was drafted, was unenforceable,” he says, adding that it would have been impossible to get that amount from Daniels.

Cohen was the one who requested such a high damages amount, Davidson says.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Keith Davidson admits that towards the end of negotiations, he was losing trust in Michael Cohen.

“I believed he was not telling me the truth” about the delay in funding, Davidson says in reference to finalising the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels.

In his earlier testimony, Davidson described his tense relationship with Cohen.

He testified that Cohen was "screaming" at him during a 2011 call. Davidson also noted that he wound up taking on Daniels' hush-money negotiations because "no one wanted to talk to Cohen".

This is a small gift to the defence's argument that Cohen lacks credibility, though it seems prosecutors are purposefully hashing out their star witness' reputation issues before the defence can.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass is starting things off.

He reviews email exchanges between Keith Davidson, National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard and Michael Cohen.

In the emails, they talk about various parts of the agreement with Stormy Daniels.

Money was not to be paid until the deal was signed, the emails say, and Cohen writes that he changed the name of the LLC used to pay her.

And a reminder that Davidson was Stormy Daniels' lawyer at this point in time (2016), and Cohen was Donald Trump's lawyer.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels' former lawyer, is back on the witness stand and the jurors have entered the court.

Donald Trump stands as they walk into the room but doesn't appear to look at them, instead whispering to his lawyer Todd Blanche.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Justice Merchan isn’t buying Todd Blanche’s argument that Trump didn’t violate his gag order when he called the jury “95% democrat” and that it made for an “unfair situation”.

Blanche tries to defend his client, who he claims is facing political persecution.

“Did he violate the gag order?” Justice Merchan interrupts.

It’s the only question he really cares about. He notes that he’s not accepting Blanche’s argument.

“He spoke about the jury, right?” Justice Merchan said. “He said the jury was 95% democrats, and the jury had been rushed through, the implication being that this is not a fair jury.”

With the gag-order hearing wrapping up, Justice Merchan has not made a decision from the bench.

For the last round of gag order complaints, he took several days and wrote a detailed order explaining his reasoning before issuing a decision.

After listening to the exchange between Justice Merchan and Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche, however, it looks like the former president might lose on a few of these violations.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We’re still talking about Cohen, and now we’re also discussing TikTok.

Blanche says Cohen has been going on TikTok nightly to make money.

“He actively encourages folks to give money,” Blanche says. “This is not a man that needs protection from the gag order.”

As Kayla notes, Cohen has promised to refrain from posting about Trump and the case.

After a brief review of his social media, it appears Cohen has stuck to that commitment.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Todd Blanche claims potential witness Michael Cohen is baiting Trump into violating the gag order with repeated attacks.

To prove his point, he shows posts Cohen made on X which mocked Trump, calling him inappropriate names, and showing caricatures of Trump in prison clothes.

That drew some laughs from members of the public who are also here in the overflow room.

Blanche says Cohen makes “over the top” statements on his podcast about Trump and his presidential candidacy.

Earlier in this exchange, Justice Merchan had acknowledged that he would also have concerns about Cohen were he in Blanche's position.

Cohen, Trump's ex-lawyer, recently swore that he would no longer discuss Trump in podcasts or on social media "out of respect" for the case.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Todd Blanche is really struggling to defend his point that Trump is being forced into an unfair situation with the gag order.

At one point, he expresses frustration that “everybody can say whatever they want” about the trial, except for Trump.

“They’re not defendants in this case,” Justice Merchan replies. “They’re not subjected to the gag order.”

Blanche continues to argue that Trump, as a presidential candidate, is being prevented from speaking.

But Justice Merchan points out that an entire press pen has been set up outside the courtroom so Trump can make public statements.

Trump is allowed to speak, but due to his position as the defendant, “there are some things you can’t talk about,” Justice Merchan said.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

For the second time, Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche is making the former president's case about the gag order - and it's going about as poorly as it did the first time.

Blanche argued last week that Trump had a right to respond to attacks from witnesses, and Justice Merchan responded by telling him he was “losing all credibility with the court”.

The judge seems unimpressed with Blanche once again after he makes some of the same arguments. Merchan very much feels like a teacher annoyed with a student who didn't do his homework.

Blanche is arguing Trump should be able to respond to jabs from President Joe Biden about the trial.

Merchan shakes his head and says there is nothing in the gag order that would prevent Trump from doing so.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

The prosecutor says with these alleged gag order violations, Trump is trying to make the trial about "politics" rather than criminal activity.

He also argues to Justice Merchan that the comments endanger the proceedings.

“His statements are corrosive to this hearing and the fair administration of justice," he said.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Prosecutors say they are "not yet seeking jail" for Trump's alleged gag order violations.

Earlier this week, Justice Merchan granted their request to fine Trump $1,000 per violation. The judge also warned Trump that he could face jail time for repeated infractions.

Though they may not aim to have Trump put in jail for these violations, prosecutors say that Merchan's previous order - and the jail threat that it contains - could inform their thinking going forward.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

Prosecutors are now going over the content of the alleged gag order violations.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, he said of former tabloid publisher David Pecker: “He’s been very nice. David’s been very nice - a nice guy.”

Prosecutors argue this is a “carrot and stick” tactic.

Because Pecker was due to testify just an hour later, he could be influenced by Trump’s remarks, prosecutors imply.

As prosecutors make their case, Trump sits still and stares forward.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

I'm also here in court and, like my colleague Madeline, listening to the hearing over Donald Trump's alleged gag order violation.

Didn’t we just have one of these? And didn’t the judge just issue a fine and a warning?

Yes and yes.

But Trump is in hot water for public statements he’s made about witnesses, potential witnesses, and the jury, which are in addition to those he got in trouble for on Tuesday. He's not allowed to do that, even when he's being nice.

Here are some of Trump's alleged violations that prosecutors have flagged:

• On 22 April, he called his ex-lawyer and prosecutors' star witness Michael Cohen a liar
• Later that day, Trump questioned the political leaning of the jury and alleged most were Democrats in an interview with network Real America’s Voice
• Trump again attacked Cohen in a 23 April interview with a Pennsylvania TV station, calling Cohen a "convicted liar"
• Trump also mentioned ex-tabloid publisher David Pecker in that interview, noting that he was unsure "what he's going to be testifying against or about"
• At a 25 April press conference, he also called Pecker "a very nice guy"

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Justice Merchan has just been seated and the gag order hearing is just beginning.

He says the defence provided "500 pages" of exhibits about Trump's alleged gag order violations.

Prosecutors are about to go through each of the alleged violations.

They won't be playing videos of times where they claim he violated the order, but they will read social media posts.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump has just walked into the courtroom dressed in a blue suit and gold tie followed by his legal team.

He glances at reporters seated in the benches as he makes his way to the the defence table at the front of the room.

Prosecutors made their way into the room carrying their daily large boxes of files soon after. The gag order hearing will start shortly.

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump has just arrived at the courthouse and he briefly spoke to media.

He talked about his political rallies yesterday, saying it was nice to be able to campaign and not be at court.

Trump goes on to talk about economic concerns, including inflation and high gas prices.

After speaking about the economy he pivots to discuss the trial today, alleging that prosecutors have "no case".

He then calls the judge "conflicted", which is a favoured line from Trump.

And a reminder that Justice Merchan will hold a contempt hearing first thing today over alleged gag-order breaches by Trump. But the gag-order does not include any comments Trump makes about the judge.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Good morning from court.

Several reporters and I have just been seated in the courtroom that Donald Trump and his legal team will enter shortly.

We're starting with a hearing this morning at 9:30 local time (14:30 BST) on whether Trump violated his gag order in this case on several - new - occasions.

We saw him fined on Tuesday for nine previous violations, and Justice Merchan even threatened the former president with jail time if he crossed the line further.

Once that's finished, the jury will be seated and we'll pick up where we left off - with testimony from Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels' former lawyer.

Stick with us.

The former president has left Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan and is on his way to the courthouse downtown.

Trump is likely to speak to the media when he arrives, and we will have a livestream for when that happens.

You can watch by pressing the play button at the top of this page.

Mike Wendling
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The Republican presidential candidate has appeared at times irritated or lethargic in court while facing charges of falsifying business records - even at one point allegedly dozing off.

But on Wednesday at a rally outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he seemed fired up as he spoke to a crowd of enthusiastic supporters for about an hour and a half.

He hit on most of his campaign's major themes - immigration, the economy, foreign policy and his opposition to President Joe Biden.

He was also campaiging in Wisconsin on the day off from court, where he briefly addressed his legal troubles.

"I got indicted - think of it - for nothing," he claimed.

"I have a crooked judge, he's a totally conflicted judge," said Trump, who is still free to criticise Justice Juan Merchan under the terms of his gag order.

He went on to criticise the other criminal indictments against him and said "my poll numbers are higher than they've ever been". Most recent polls show him in a very tight race with Biden.

You can read more here.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Donald Trump's hush-money trial in New York.

We will be well-underway in court today before the jury even sits down in their chairs.

The judge plans to hold a hearing before the jury arrive to determine if Trump has again breached a gag-order.

The former president has already been fined $9,000 (£7,200) for statements he made on social media about people involved in this trial. The gag-order was put in place to stop him from making any verbal attacks on potential witnesses and court staff.

But prosecutors claim Trump has violated the order again, and they want more penalities.

When that hearing wraps up, it'll be back to witness testimony from Stormy Daniels' former lawyer - Keith Davidson.

Stick with us, it's another busy day in court.