A total of 32 potential jurors were left in the courtroom.
Thats the day that the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Trumps claims of immunity from prosecution.
But Merchan rejected the request.
Donald Trump on the first day of his criminal trial on charges related to hush money payments.Photo by Angela Weiss - Pool/Getty Images
I will see him here next week.
The trial will be dark on Wednesdays, when Merchan has other court duties.
But he has not ruled out scheduling proceedings on that day if the trial runs behind schedule.
Trump supporters gather at Collect Pond Park near Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday.Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
I cant give you a blanket answer.
Certainly for any proceedings that involves the jury, your client needs to be here, Merchan said.
He has threatened to have Trump arrested if he skips being present for the proceedings.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom afterward, Trump blasted the case as a scam and slammed the judge.
He also complained that the judge would not excuse him to attend his sons high school graduation next month.
Cable news networks showed helicopter shots of Trumps motorcade as it left the lower Manhattan courthouse.
Other jurors were excused for other reasons, leaving just under three dozen.
When they first entered the courtroom, some of the jurors did react to seeing the former president.
Some stared at him.
The remaining prospective jurors are now being asked, one by one, a list of 42 questions.
Read the Trump trial juror questionnaire.
The gag order restricts Trump from commenting on Merchans family members.
The small band of Trump supporters present included MAGA-world regulars with followings online and in the conservative news sphere.
Donald Trumps the greatest showman that ever lived, Tabacco said.
When he enters court its like a red carpet walk for him.
To me I think he relishes in this stuff.
I do a lot of street interviews, Tabacco said.
Latino, African-American they say, This is whats been happening to us our whole life.
Weve been getting persecuted by the criminal justice system.
The Mans after us, right?
She would later attribute the reduced turnout among demonstrators to timing, telling reporters, Its a Monday.
He cannot speak, Loomer said of Trump.
We have to be his voice.
As she spoke, a skirmish broke out behind her.
The early-morning anti-Trump contingent was even sparser.
We are a country of over 340-something million people, she said.
Merchan did not issue a ruling before a lunchtime break.
The judge did warn Trump that he could face jail time if he disrupts the proceedings.
Judge Juan Merchan said that he would allow such evidence in the case, per a courtroom pool.
McDougal was a former Playboy model who claimed to have had an affair with Trump.
They just cannot play the recording itself.
Merchan also denied Trumps attorneys efforts to have him recused from the case.
Just before entering, Trump blasted the prosecution, calling it political persecution, persecution like never before.
About a half hour earlier, as Trump arrived at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse today around 9 a.m.
Given the stakes and the expected difficulty in finding genuinely impartial jurors, jury selection may take days.
The judge is allowing some limited pool images of Trump in the courtroom, but not of the proceedings.
But he is expected to deny that motion.
Earlier today, Trumps campaign introduced a new ad tied to the trial.
A post shared by President Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump)
More to come.
