Trump trial live updates: Countdown to the hush money trial verdict begins as court returns for closing arguments

They mined his books for examples of how he micromanaged the Trump Organization, how he was motivated by revenge, and how he saw sexual potential in encounters with women.

In so doing they sought to show the jury that he monitored every cent coming in and out of his business, bolstering their case that he must have known that hush money payments to Stormy Daniels were being hidden as legal expenses.

Trump denied 34 charges of falsifying business records.

And his defense team tried to show he was a busy executive who left handling invoices, ledger entries and check cutting to lower level managers.

Donald Trump will return to court for the first time in a week for closing arguments in the historic hush money trial.

The former president’s lawyers and the prosecution will make their final pitches to the 12 jury members who will decide his fate.

The panel of Manhattan residents has listened to 22 witnesses over five weeks of testimony in the case that is quickly coming to an end.

Here is what to expect as attorneys from both sides make their case to the jury:

He writes on Truth Social:

…and then, of course, there’s the BIGGEST EVENT OF THEM ALL, but I’m not allowed to talk about it because I’m under an illegal and unconstitutional GAG ORDER. This is the Biden White House at work. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!

On Monday night Trump wrote on Truth Social:

WHY IS THE CORRUPT GOVERNMENT ALLOWED TO MAKE THE FINAL ARGUMENT IN THE CASE AGAINST ME? WHY CAN’T THE DEFENSE GO LAST? BIG ADVANTAGE, VERY UNFAIR. WITCH HUNT! DJT

After closing arguments wrap up, the jury will be given instructions by Judge Juan Merchan and set out to deliberate.

They will go through each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records and decide if Trump is guilty or not guilty.

To reach a verdict on each charge, the jury has to be unanimous.

The members have been away from the courtroom for a week mulling over evidence from the past five weeks from 22 witnesses.

They are anonymous, but some details were revealed in court: Here’s what we know about them.

As the trial of Donald Trump over hush money payments to a porn star heads into its final stage, Trump’s wife Melania Trump has been noticeably absent from the courtroom.

Over the course of five weeks, a series of Trump supporters including Republican lawmakers, former administration officials, vice presidential hopefuls and a few of his own kids have been in court.

They’ve sat through hours of salacious testimony as the ex-president stands trial on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment for pornstar Stormy Daniels.

Melania Trump, however, has remained far away from the New York criminal court room home in Florida.

Legal experts told DailyMail.com what it could mean