After a tense week of jury selection, Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial truly gets underway on Monday morning with opening statements from the prosecution and defence.
The 12 jurors and six alternates will then begin hearing evidence against the former president and his counterargument before ultimately deciding his fate.
Judge Juan Merchan is also expected to rule on whether Mr Trump’s previous misconduct and court cases can be included in proceedings.
Mr Trump spent much of the weekend complaining about the case on Truth Social and angrily posting his presidential immunity claims — on which the Supreme Court will hear arguments this Thursday.
Elsewhere in the myriad of legal issues engulfing the former president, Monday will also see a hearing on whether to cancel Mr Trump’s $175m bond to appeal the civil fraud trial ruling and the public filing of witness statements in the classified documents case.
A planned rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, was called off at the last minute due to bad weather, with Mr Trump instead sending a recorded message to supporters. Meanwhile, Melania Trump returned to the campaign trail helping the conservative LGBT group the Log Cabin Republicans raise $1m at a Mar-a-Lago dinner.