Nada Tawfik
Reporting from outside court

It’s a sunny day in New York and roughly two dozen protestors have flocked to the park opposite the courthouse.

Barricades once again separate Donald Trump’s supporters and opponents but things are calm.

A few people are well known by now. A man ringing a church bell with a shirt that says Trump is one of the greatest presidents. People wearing Maga hats shouting at reporters on air that they are fake news.

But there is a newcomer today. A reportage artist, Kevin Zych. He draws different scenes around the city and chose this one for today.

In one sketch, he wanted to capture the dynamic of everyone outside of the court, waiting in anticipation of a potential verdict.

His drawing compares the relationship of people who are politically motivated and invested in the outcome against those reporting on it.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

For more than six weeks in a courtroom, sometimes packed with members of Donald Trump’s entourage, we have yet to catch a glimpse of his wife, Melania.

That’s perhaps not shocking in a case that’s centred on a hush-money payment made to an adult-film star who alleges she had sex with Trump.

Stormy Daniels claims she and Trump had sex in a Nevada hotel suite just months after his wife gave birth to their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump has denied any sexual encounter with Daniels.

Other members of Trump's family have come to show support during the trial - his son, Eric, was present as Daniels took the stand, sharing lurid details of what allegedly took place at a celebrity golf tournament.

But Melania has stayed at their Florida Mar-a-Lago residence, as Trump’s lawyers have sought to disprove the prosecutors’ case. They claim Trump was not motivated by his 2016 campaign to pay off Stormy Daniels, but by a desire to protect his family.

Several witnesses have disputed this. “He wasn’t thinking about Melania. This was all about the campaign,” said Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen.

Trump's gag order workaroundpublished at 17:37 British Summer Time 30 May 2024

17:37 BST 30 May 2024

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump is a man of many words. And they’re often provocative.

The former president’s penchant for lobbing rhetorical bombshells at critics and never leaving a perceived slight or disparagement unanswered ran head-on into the US legal system’s rules governing witness intimidation during his trial, however.

Early in the proceedings, the prosecution sought – and were granted – a gag order that prevented Trump from talking about planned or potential witnesses, lawyers and staff members of the court and their families, and the families of the judge and the New York City district attorney.

Trump initially shrugged off the court mandate and paid the price, to the tune of $10,000 in contempt-of-court fines and the threat of jail time.

That last bit seems to have convinced him to hold his tongue.

Instead, he has opted to read out news clippings where conservative analysts say the things he’s not allowed to. He’s also relied on a steady stream of supporters, including the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, to publicly attack the credibility of witnesses in his stead.

That workaround has seemed to have protected Trump’s bank account – and his freedom – as the trial approaches its conclusion.

Image source, Reuters / Jane Rosenberg

If you are just joining us, here's a quick recap of what happened so far today.

The jury was read specific testimony they had requested on Wednesday.

They asked for refreshers on:

1. Some of former tabloid publisher David Pecker's testimony regarding a conversation with Donald Trump
2. Pecker's testimony regarding former Playboy model Karen McDougal's story
3. Pecker’s testimony regarding his meeting in Trump Tower with former Trump fixer Michael Cohen and Donald Trump
4. Cohen’s testimony regarding that same meeting

Much of that testimony goes to the heart of the prosecution's case.

Jurors seemed to want to know more about the alleged "catch-and-kill" scheme that Trump, his ex-lawyer Cohen, and former National Enquirer boss Pecker entered into during a meeting in 2015 as Trump ran for president.

Pecker testified that it was at that meeting that he agreed to suppress negative stories about Trump as he ran for president.

And Pecker’s testimony is key for the prosecution to prove their allegations of Trump’s intent in the business records falsification case.

The jury was also read part of the judge's instructions. They heard this in full yesterday, but wanted to hear some sections read aloud once again.

Now the jury is deliberating again. They have been deliberating for more than seven hours now.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from outside court

I caught up with Donald Trump’s good friend of 30 years, Steve Witkoff, who is inside the courthouse with the former president as they wait for a potential verdict.

Publicly, Donald Trump has looked and sounded drained. But Witkoff insists that in private his friend seems “strong and upbeat,” even though Trump “can’t believe this is happening to him”.

Witkoff says he believes the jury is going through the evidence carefully. However, he says Trump and his entourage feel the judge’s instructions are unfair and leave too much room for interpretation.

Justice Merchan said jurors must unanimously agree on two things to convict Donald Trump.

• First, that he falsified business records.
• Second, that he did it to conceal another crime.

Jurors, however, do not need to agree on what the second crime is. For example, some can find it was a violation of New York or federal election laws and others can decide it was tax fraud.

Legal experts tell me this is standard. But on social media, conservative commentators are spreading disinformation that a verdict doesn’t require unanimity to again claim the trial is rigged.

Image source, Getty Images

The new episode of BBC Americast has dropped, and it focuses on all the drama inside and outside the courtroom with closing arguments and jury deliberations.

We've also seen Hollywood actor Robert De Niro lash out at Donald Trump in a news conference right outside the courthouse, much to the chagrin of the former president’s supporters in Manhattan.

Listen here on BBC Sounds.

Whatever happens, this trial has wide-reaching implicationspublished at 16:46 British Summer Time 30 May 2024

16:46 BST 30 May 2024

Gary O'Donoghue
Senior North America correspondent

Whatever the outcome of this particular trial, it will cast a deep shadow over the election campaign in the coming months.

Guilty or not, Donald Trump has integrated his legal woes into the very fabric of his campaign strategy - and it now seems (after Democratic surrogate and Hollywood star Robert De Niro's appearance outside court) that the Biden campaign has also decided to reap whatever political benefits there are from Trump's discomfort.

In an election in which the public is decidedly unenthusiastic about both major candidates, the trial could be a galvanising factor for both sides.

It has, and no doubt will continue to be, a major driver of fundraising for Trump, and for Democrats, it serves as a concrete reminder of Joe Biden's key message on his opponent - that he's a threat to democracy and the rule of law.

Image source, Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

With jurors heading off to deliberate once again, here's a quick refresher on who they are.

Sitting, listening intently to every word of this trial, and sometimes taking notes, have been 12 New Yorkers, from all different walks of life.

In the first week of the trial, the judge and lawyers on both sides waded through hundreds of Manhattanites to try and find a group of impartial jurors - no easy task when the person on trial is one of the most polarising US politicians.

But they did manage to find the 12 people, and six alternates.

To protect their identifies, the judge limited the information that the media can share about the 12.

But we can tell you that it’s five women and seven men.

Among them are two lawyers, an investment banker with an MBA; a security engineer from the West Village; and a retired wealth manager.

You can read more about the jury here.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

With the jury gone, there's nothing to do but wait.

Donald Trump leaves the courtroom followed by his lawyers and son, Eric. They'll be waiting in a holding room near the main courtroom for any news.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

After the court reporters finished reading David Pecker's testimony, and they moved onto Michael Cohen's testimony about that same Trump Tower meeting in 2015.

That doesn't take very long, and is over within a few minutes.

Justice Merchan announces the readback is complete, and with that, the jury is excused to leave the court and continue their deliberations.

The jury file out one by one. We aren't certain when we'll see or hear from them again.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We're getting to a new piece of evidence that jurors had requested.

They want to hear David Pecker's testimony, when he said that he did not want to be involved in the Stormy Daniels hush-money deal.

Pecker tells the court that he is "not a bank".

We heard from Pecker previously that getting reimbursed for the Karen McDougal hush-money payment proved to be such a mess that he decided to stay out of the next deal.

He was never reimbursed for McDougal.

Image source, Court testimony

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We're not just hearing prosecutors' questioning of David Pecker.

Now, the court staffer is narrating us through Emil Bove's cross examination.

We hearing the part where Bove tried to plant doubt about Pecker's testimony by asking him if the events - the Trump Tower meeting in particular - took place a long time ago.

He asks if prosecutors refreshed Pecker's memory.

Pecker notes that prosecutors asked him to be as truthful as possible.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

The jurors are paying close attention to this little scene that the court staff are re-enacting.

The woman "playing" David Pecker is actually on the witness stand, as if she were the witness herself.

It's worth noting that she has a soft but pronounced New York accent, just as the witness himself does. It's almost like watching a reading of a play, except the audience is frantically taking notes the entire time.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

We now hear David Pecker's account of a key meeting in August 2015 in Trump Tower, with himself, Donald Trump and Michael Cohen.

Prosecutors say that the alleged conspiracy to influence the 2016 election was born here.

The court staffers re-read the following exchange:

"At that meeting, Donald Trump and Michael, they asked me what can I do and what my magazines could do to help the campaign," he testified.

Pecker testified that he would "run positive stories about Mr Trump and I would publish negative stories about his opponents".

Pecker also proposed being the "eyes and ears" for the campaign and if he heard about any negative stories, he would notify Michael Cohen.

Image source, NY Courts

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Donald Trump does not appear to be particularly engaged in this read back.

He’s sitting back in his chair with his eyes closed while his lawyer Todd Blanche looks toward the court staff who are re-reading the testimony.

The prosecutors are looking down, reading the transcripts in front of them.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The two court reporters are continuing to read parts of David Pecker's testimony.

One is repeating Pecker's testimony about telling Trump that he should buy the rights to a story from Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model.

Pecker - via the court reporter - says Trump told him McDougal was a "nice girl".

The screenshot below shows this part of testimony the jury is listening to. You can also read the transcript in full here, external.

Image source, NY Courts

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

We're going to be treated to a bit of a dramatic reading from two female court staffers.

One will read the questions, as if they were the lawyer. The other will read David Pecker's responses, as if she was the witness.

They also have to read it verbatim, with all the "uhs" and "umms" and repetitions intact.

We start with David Pecker's call with Donald Trump about buying the story of Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who alleges she had an affair with Trump.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

After explaining the alleged crimes to the jury, Justice Merchan has concluded re-reading the instructions.

"Was that responsive to you?" he asks the jury. They nod, and a couple seem to say yes.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We've almost arrived at the end of Justice Merchan's re-reading of part of the instructions.

He's going over the secondary crimes prosecutors claim Donald Trump committed.

Remember, their argument is that Trump falsified business records to conceal another crime, violation of election laws.

We have some photographs from when Donald Trump arrived in the courtroom this morning.

As you can see, there's a bit of a mad rush as photographers swoop in to take his picture.

These photos are all taken before court proceedings kick off. From then on, it's only sketch artists who are allowed to show what it looks like inside the room.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters