Trump jury selection nears close on fourth day of trial – live

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Before Donald Trump’s trial entered its fourth day, the ex-president did what he usually does when facing scrutiny: complain.

In the hall outside the courtroom, Trump reiterated his claims that the trial was rigged and derided Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s intelligence, saying he was “not smart enough to represent himself… like Letitia James.”

Trump insisted he should be on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina rather than inside court.

Trump also called for judge Juan Merchan to free him from the gag order.

Donald Trump once again railed against the hush money case as he spoke to reporters before court proceedings began.

“This is a rigged trial … coming from the White House, the former president said, before saying that New York is “a very corrupt place to do business. I think a lot of people are not going to be moving in New York.”

Trump said he should be campaigning in Pennsylvania, Georgia and other states instead of being in the courtroom. He said:

I’m sitting in a courthouse all day long. This is going on for the week and it will go up for another four or five weeks. It’s very unfair. People know it’s very unfair.

Trump says gag order 'has to come off'

Donald Trump, speaking to reporters before entering the Manhattan courthouse, once again railed against the hush-money case and called on judge Juan Merchan to remove the gag order against him because it’s “very, very unfair”. Trump said:

The gag order has to come off. People are allowed to speak about me and I have a gag order, just to show you how much more unfair it is.

He added:

They’ve taken away my constitutional rights to speak and that includes speaking to you. I have a lot to say to you. And I’m not allowed to say it and I’m the only one.

Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office are looking to fine Trump over violating his gag order after disparaging witnesses in the case on social media. A hearing is set for next week.

Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse, where proceedings are expected to get under way at about 9.30am ET.

Former president Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Friday, 19 April 2024, in New York. Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

The 12-person jury was selected Thursday

A full jury of 12 people has been seated in the criminal case against Donald Trump, bringing the first criminal trial of a former president a significant step closer to beginning. At least one of six alternate jurors had been selected before court concluded on Thursday.

The development came after two jurors were removed, underscoring the difficulty of choosing a jury in one of the most high-stakes cases in US history.

A woman known only as “Juror Two” appeared briefly before judge Juan Merchan to say that she no longer believed she could be unbiased in the case. Since being selected on Tuesday, she had been described in the media and had received a flurry of text messages from friends and family that led her to believe she had been identified. The judge excused her.

Her dismissal came as reporters have been hanging on every detail they can glean about the 12 jurors who will determine Trump’s criminal fate. Fox News’s Jesse Watters also did a segment on Tuesday that directly attacked the jurors, including Juror Two. “I’m not so sure about Juror No 2,” Watters said on his show on Tuesday.

A second juror was excused after prosecutors expressed concerns that he may not have been truthful on his jury questionnaire about his criminal history.

Prosecutors told Merchan that in researching the juror, they had discovered that someone with the same name was arrested decades ago for tearing down posters supportive of the political right. They also said it appeared his wife had been involved in an anti-corruption probe with the district attorney.

The juror appeared in court on Thursday for two lengthy conversations with Merchan and lawyers for both sides. Merchan sealed the conversation, saying it was personal, and then excused the juror.

Trump’s hush-money trial enters fourth day as jury selection nears to a close

Good morning US politics readers. Donald Trump is set to appear in a Manhattan courtroom for the fourth day of his hush-money trial, where a dozen jurors and one alternate have already selected to sit on the first criminal trial of a former president in US history.

Five alternates remain to be chosen before jury selection wraps up and the presiding judge, Justice Juan Merchan, has suggested that opening statements could begin as early as Monday.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of the alleged effort to cover up hush money paid to adult actor Stormy Daniels. Trump also faces other trials involving his actions on January 6, attempts to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia and charges related to his keeping of classified documents at his resort in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, after he had left office.

Trump’s criminal hush-money trial: what to know

• A guide to Trump’s hush-money trial – so far

• The jurors: who is on the Trump trial jury?

• The key arguments prosecutors will use against Trump

• How will Trump’s trial work?

• From Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels: the key players

Here’s what else we’re watching:

• House Democrats came to the rescue of Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker, in a rare move on Thursday night in order to save the Ukraine aid legislation from right wing rebels.

• Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, is in Capri, Italy, for Group of Seven meetings of foreign ministers.

• Janet Yellen, the treasury secretary, is in meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington.

• 12pm ET. Joe Biden will deliver remarks at the IBEW construction and maintenance conference.

• 1.30pm. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief.