Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen has finished his second day of testimony at a New York court in the ex-president's hush-money trial
Under cross-examination, the defence immediately attacked Cohen's credibility as a witness and brought up his many social media comments bashing Trump
Earlier, Cohen testified he lied out of "loyalty" and to "protect" Trump when he was his personal counsel
He has also claimed that Trump approved a plan to reimburse him for $130,000 (£104,300) paid to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels as hush money
Cohen testified Trump knew payments would be marked as legal fees, and that he was worried about political fallout - not his family finding out about sex allegations
The ex-fixer's evidence gets to the heart of the prosecution's argument - that Trump falsified business records to cover up payments to a porn star
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of fraud and also denies having any sexual encounter with Daniels
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Image source, Getty ImagesMichael Cohen entering Trump Tower in December 2016.
Todd Blanche just brought up a Vanity Fair profile from 2017, where Michael Cohen's now-infamous quote that he would "take a bullet" for Trump originated.
Cohen testifies that at the time, that's how he felt about Trump.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Todd Blanche takes his questioning back to the time before Donald Trump and Michael Cohen had fallen out.
Is it fair to say you admired Trump while you were working for him? Blanche asks.
"Yes," Cohen replies.
Blanche asks if Cohen had ever viewed Trump's book, The Art of the Deal, as a "masterpiece".
“I viewed it as an excellent book, correct," Cohen says.
Blanche then asks if he was "obsessed” with Trump during this time.
Cohen responds that he wouldn't characterise it that way - he admired Trump.
However, Blanche presses him. He refers to one of Cohen's books where he says he was "obsessed" with Trump.
Later, Cohen says, "I was knee-deep into the cult of President Trump”.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Image source, Reuters/Jane RosenbergAs Todd Blanche grills Cohen, Trump looks a bit... bored.
I'm seated a few rows behind him, so can only see his back.
But he appears to be slouching in his chair and not looking towards Blanche, who is up at a lectern handling the cross-examination.
He might be watching the screen in front of him, which displays camera feeds of the witness stand, judge, and himself at the defence table.
But he does not appear as animated as I had expected, given the long, personal, and often contentious history between himself and Cohen.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Image source, Reuters/Jane RosenbergSo far, Todd Blanche isn't actually trying to rebut any of the testimony that Cohen provided in the past two days, such as when Cohen testified that Trump was aware of each step of the hush money deal and the reimbursement.
We may well get to that, but right now the focus is on painting a picture for the jury of Cohen's character.
The defence seems aimed to be alleging that the ex-lawyer has an axe to grind and enriched himself through this case.
Blanche is asking him about how many times he has gone on TV during the trial, and how many episodes of his Mea Culpa podcast he has recorded.
Trump's defence lawyer also brings up Cohen's TikTok, where he also speaks to his followers.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
The court is now looking at Michael Cohen's podcast merchandise.
One T-Shirt shows a cartoon Donald Trump in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, behind bars.
The defence shows another piece of merchandise, a mug, which mocks Trump.
Trump's team is trying to imply that Cohen is profiting off the case and his criticism of the former president.
It's the same line of attack they used when they questioned Stormy Daniels a few days ago, when they displayed merchandise from her online store.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Image source, Getty ImagesCohen at a live taping of his Mea Culpa podcast in 2022.
Todd Blanche is pushing Cohen on his desired outcome for this trial.
Blanche asks if Cohen said on his Mea Culpa Podcast that he wants to see Trump convicted.
Cohen tries to hedge. "Sounds like something I would say," he replies.
Over and over again, Blanche presses him to specify, yes or no, if Cohen wants Trump to be convicted.
Cohen says he wants to see "accountability" before finally conceding: “Sure”.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Todd Blanche is repeatedly asking Michael Cohen if he recalled conversations with prosecutors where they asked him to avoid media appearances during the trial.
Cohen says he cannot recall those conversations.
Blanche points out that he remembers all of his phone calls with Trump in 2016 that he had testified to, and Cohen confirms he can.
It's important to remember that prosecutors cannot actually order Cohen not to speak about the case, even though they said in court last week they have asked him to refrain from commenting on the case.
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from New York
Cohen's fiery social media posts have got him in trouble before - and he publicly said he would stop posting about Trump.
But his previous, colourful insults present a challenge for prosecutors and a line of attack for Trump's legal team.
He frequently used social media to mock Trump in the weeks leading up to the trial. He went so far to accuse the former president of sleeping in court - among other things.
Trump would eventually hit back at Cohen, violating the case's gag order that prevents him from publicly commenting about witnesses.
Justice Juan Merchan wasn't happy with Cohen's behaviour, and he asked prosecutors to warn their witness about his comments.
The message seemed to work. After that, Cohen posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he will "cease posting anything about Donald" during the trial.
You can read his full tweet below.
Image source, XKayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Todd Blanche has not begun with evidence, but by working to undermine Michael Cohen's character before the jury.
Blanche asks him about a series of social media posts that Cohen has made during the trial.
Blanche asks whether it true that Cohen called Trump a “dictator douchebag" in a TikTok.
"Sounds like something I said," Cohen replies evenly.
Blanche asks him about another post where Cohen mocked Trump's press conferences outside of court, saying Trump is entering into a "little cage".
Cohen says he recalls saying that.
Did prosecutors warn him repeatedly about this extrajudicial statements? Blanche asks.
“They might have," Cohen says.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
The questioning is heating up and so is the courtroom.
It's noticeably warmer in here than it was this morning.
Trump has previously complained about how cold it is in court (though your correspondent doesn't find it that frigid).
This morning he told reporters it was an "ice box".
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Todd Blanche is handling the cross examination of Michael Cohen - and he has no plans to pull punches.
Blanche asks Cohen if, in late April, he went on social media and called him a "crying little shit".
Cohen quips back: "Sounds like something I would say".
Justice Merchan strikes this particular exchange and another similar follow up, after an objection from the prosecution.
We've just received some more info about what the rest of this week could look like.
A transcript of this morning's proceedings shows that prosecutor Josh Steinglass told the judge that Michael Cohen is the prosecution's last witness.
They had planned to call another book publisher, but decided it wasn't necessary, he says.
Steinglass added that it's "highly likely" that prosecutors will finish up their case by, or on, Thursday. Then it will be the defence's turn to call witnesses, if they choose to.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Donald Trump is now back in the courtroom as we resume for the afternoon.
Now, it's the turn of Trump's lawyers to cross-examine Michael Cohen.
I don't like to make predictions, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a tense and dramatic afternoon.
Brandon Livesay
Reporting from New York
Michael Cohen's second day of testimony is as dramatic as his first.
First up, let's set the scene.
Donald Trump sits in his usual place at the defence table, wearing a gold-coloured tie.
Behind him are a large group of high-ranking political supporters, mainly wearing red ties. Among them are vice-presidential hopefuls. And House Speaker Mike Johnson was talking to media outside court.
On the witness stand, Cohen wears a pale blue tie and rimmed glasses.
We also heard of back-channel communications set up between Trump's White House and Cohen.
Then Cohen delved into his criminal history.
The prosecution is trying to beat the defence team's expected point of attack - Cohen's credibility - by bringing it up first.
After the break, we get to see how they will do this. The court should be back in session any minute.
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Image source, Reuters/Jane RosenbergThe prosecution has wrapped up its questions for Michael Cohen
After the lunch break it will be the defence's turn to ask Michael Cohen questions.
Donald Trump’s lawyers are almost guaranteed to attack his credibility before the jury, painting him as a liar who cannot be trusted.
One accusation they could lodge is a claim that Cohen perjured himself - or lied under oath - while giving evidence.
That claim arose from his evidence last year in another Trump trial - a civil business fraud case involving the Trump Organisation.
Under cross-examination then, Cohen said he did not actually commit the federal tax evasion charges to which he pleaded guilty to in 2018. Asked if he lied to the judge when he pleaded guilty, Cohen said yes.
A New York judge questioned Cohen’s credibility at a March parole hearing.
Cohen’s reversal at the civil fraud trial “gives rise to two possibilities”, Judge Jesse Furman said. “One, Cohen committed perjury when he pleaded guilty… Two, Cohen committed perjury in his October 2023 testimony.”
Judge Furman criticised Cohen for “ongoing and escalating efforts to walk away from his prior acceptance of responsibility for his crimes”.
His lawyer denied this interpretation of Cohen's evidence at the time.
Cohen has not been charged with perjury for his statements last autumn, but don’t be surprised if Trump’s lawyers claim he lies.
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
When this trial began, Trump's courtroom entourage consisted of a gaggle of lawyers and campaign aides. This week, it's started to look more like a preview of July's Republican National Convention.
With Michael Cohen on the stand, the number of prominent Republican officeholders in attendance has expanded dramatically.
Earlier today, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson - the top Republican in the US - met the former president at the courthouse in Manhattan, greeting him with a smile and a nod. Then, while the hush-money trial was still ongoing, he gave a brief statement to the press outside.
What does this say about Trump's hold on the Republican party? You can read my full analysis here.
Image source, ReutersSpeaker Mike Johnson (left), former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (centre) and Congressman Cory Mills at the trial on Wednesday
To unpack the evidence we’ve heard so far in Donald Trump’s trial, tune into Americast, the BBC’s US politics and culture podcast.
You can listen to Americast's latest episode here.
Additional episodes can be found on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
The New York Supreme Court denied Trump's latest appeal.
He had challenged Justice Juan Merchan's oversight of the case and the gag order that limits his ability to speak about witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case.
According to court documents, the former president took particular issue with the fact that he could not publicly speak about witnesses Michael Cohen or Stormy Daniels - who have both given evidence against him.
He also appears unhappy that he cannot comment on Judge Merchan's daughter, who worked for a firm tied to Democrats.
Trump has had several appeals denied since trial proceedings began last month.
Image source, .While you're here, why not sign up for US Election Unspun, BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher’s newsletter about the race for the White House.
Each week takes a look at a different critical aspect of the run-up to the US election, including Trump's trial.
Readers in the UK can sign up here
And if you’re outside the UK, this is the link.
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Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Susan Hoffinger has finished all of her questions, and direct examination of Michael Cohen is over.
Justice Merchan announces we are taking our lunch break.
Donald Trump leaves court.
When we return, his lawyers will go on the attack.
Stick with us, we will bring you more analysis and updates while court is breaking.