NEW YORK — Donald Trump was in Manhattan Supreme Court Monday for jury selection at his historic hush money trial — the first criminal trial of a former president. The trial is the culmination of a multiyear investigation by the Manhattan district attorney into Trump and his alleged efforts to influence the results of the 2016 presidential election by paying hush money to silence stories of his illicit sexual encounters.

District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case is expected to center on payments arranged by Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels as well as Playboy model Karen McDougal and a Trump Tower doorman.

Bragg has accused the former president of concealing his reimbursement of Cohen for a $130,000 payment to Daniels right before the 2016 election in exchange for keeping quiet about a sexual encounter she says they had 10 years prior. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts related to reimbursement to Cohen — a total of $420,000. The counts represent 11 checks, 11 invoices, and 12 ledger entries.

The first batch of potential jurors went through a set of questions both sides have agreed upon in a process called voir dire that will whittle the pool of hundreds of potential jurors to 12 plus six alternates.

The first question posed to the 96 prospective panelists was whether they think they can be “fair and impartial” in judging the facts of the case. After Judge Juan Merchan asked the room, more than half of them were excused.

Before the jurors came in, Merchan settled some last pretrial matters. He gave the defense 24 hours to present evidence to the DA’s lawyers, and set a hearing date of April 23 as the next step in the prosecution’s request for Trump to be held in contempt for the Truth Social posts.

Prosecutors had asked Merchan to hold Trump in contempt for violating a gag order prohibiting comments about witnesses in three recent online posts referencing Cohen, calling him a “sleazebag” in one.

Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said, “The defendant himself has publicly embraced the public strategy of going after his perceived enemies.”

ADA Chris Conroy later asked Merchan to fine Trump $1,000 for each of the posts in question and said prosecutors were reviewing whether he violated it a fourth time in another post Monday morning.

“It’s entirely possible it was done within this courthouse,” the prosecutor said.

In response, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said his client was defending himself against “salacious, repeated, vehement attacks” and had not violated the gag order.

Merchan did not immediately rule on the request.

Lawyers for the two sides spent much of the first hour of Monday’s proceedings arguing about evidence.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Merchan said he would allow prosecutors to introduce evidence of Trump’s alleged 2015 agreement with The National Enquirer concerning the magazine’s efforts to hurt his competitors and allegations of McDougal’s monthslong affair with him, which Trump’s attorney Blanche argued would create “a side trial we can’t do anything about.”

The judge said he would not permit the jury to hear that Trump’s wife Melania was pregnant at the time of his alleged tryst with Stormy Daniels, finding it would be overly prejudicial.

The judge similarly wouldn’t budge on his previous denial of prosecutors’ request to show the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape that recorded Trump boasting about grabbing women by the genitals because he’s a “star.” But Merchan said jurors could read Trump’s comments on it.

He also rejected prosecutors’ request to show footage of Trump’s contentious deposition in litigation with E. Jean Carroll, the writer who claimed she was raped by Trump, when he said it was “historically” true that famous men could grope women by their genitals, “unfortunately or fortunately.”

Merchan denied Trump’s second recusal motion after summarizing its main arguments, including unfounded claims about Merchan’s daughter, a political consultant for Democrats. Trump’s lawyers claimed the daughter’s job at a digital agency that works on campaigns for Democrats would impact his impartiality.

“The court will not address this matter further,” Merchan said, noting that it’s now in the hands of the appellate courts.

Of Trump’s claims about his daughter, Merchan said, “to say that these claims are attenuated is an understatement.”

Before entering the courtroom Monday morning, Trump did not answer any questions from reporters but blasted the trial as “an assault on America.”

“Nothing like this has ever happened before,” Trump said. “This is political persecution, persecution like never before.”

“It’s an assault on America. And that’s why I’m very proud to be here. This is an assault on our country. And it’s a country that’s failing. It’s a country that’s run by an incompetent man who’s very much involved in this case. This is really an attack on a political opponent. That’s all it is. So I’m very honored to be here.”

Prosecutors say Trump's hush money payments were disguised to conceal separate violations of election laws, which makes the alleged crimes Class-E felonies.

Expected on the witness stand are a colorful crew from Trump’s past, including Daniels and Cohen, who flipped on Trump; McDougal, the Playboy model allegedly paid off to stay mum on her nine-month relationship with Trump; Dino Sajudin, a doorman at Trump Tower who tried to sell a story alleging Trump fathered a child out of wedlock; David Pecker, a supermarket tabloid publisher who allegedly worked with Trump to silence unfavorable stories; and several other Trumpworld characters.

The road to the trial, which is expected to last six to eight weeks, has been winding.

In the week leading up to it, Trump’s lawyers took a kitchen-sink approach to delay proceedings further, throwing three attempts at New York appeals court judges in as many days. The judges struck down all three.

Trump also faces three more criminal cases in Georgia, Washington, D.C., and Florida, although none of those are expected to reach trial by election day in November.

The trial has collided with the campaign trail as the presumed GOP nominee faces off against Joe Biden.

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(New York Daily News staff writer Dave Goldiner contributed to this story.)

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