Trump trial: Hope Hicks faces her ex-boss on 'Access Hollywood' tape, Daniels payment

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, former President Trump signaled that he might not be taking the stand in the trial in response to a question about what he thought of Keith Davidson's testimony.

"I'm not allowed to testify because this judge who's totally conflicted has put me under an unconstitutional gag order. Nobody's ever had that before," Trump said, despite the limited gag order only keeping him from directing prohibited comments at witnesses, jury members, and attorneys in the case.

"The easiest question so far," Trump told reporters, "but I'm not allowed to testify because this judge is totally conflicted, has me under an unconstitutional gag order."

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh and Mike Pappano

In his cross-examination of expert witness Douglas Daus, defense attorney Emil Bove asked Daus why the 2016 Trump-Cohen recording on Cohen's phone abruptly cuts off, attempting to raise doubts about the integrity of the recording.

Daus suggested that he heard in the recording that another call was coming in, but Daus said he could not say with certainty why the recording ended.

"You don't have firsthand knowledge of why it cuts off?" Bove said.

Bove -- a former prosecutor with plenty of experience handling cellphone extractions -- then discussed with Daus the different ways to extract a device. For a brief moment, the tone of the cross-examination shifted from tense to friendly.

Judge Merchan subsequently ended the proceedings for the day, dismissing the parties.

The proceedings are scheduled to resume tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Expert witness Douglas Daus testified about a recording on Michael Cohen's phone from Sept. 6, 2016, at 10:56 a.m.

The recording, approximately two minutes long, captures a conversation between Cohen and Trump.

"I need to open up a company for the transfer for all of that info regarding our friend David," Cohen says on the call. "I am all over that, and I spoke to Allen about it when it comes time for the financing," Cohen says.

"What financing?" Trump asks.

"We'll have to pay him something," Cohen said.

The prosecution then concluded its direct examination of Daus.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Emil Bove sought to raise doubts about the integrity of the material on Cohen's phone, suggesting it had been "subject to the risk of manipulation" somewhere in the chain of custody.

Expert witness Douglas Daus walked jurors through what he found on Cohen's phones after he extracted the data -- including an astounding 39,745 contacts.

Most phones have a few hundred contacts, Daus said.

On one of Cohen's phones, he had 10 pages of contacts for Donald Trump alone, according to Daus.

On Cohen's second phone, he had 385 contacts, which is average, according to Daus.

Daus then displayed for the jury text messages between Cohen and former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks.

"Call me," Cohen texted Hicks on November 4, 2016.

Jurors then saw a photo of Cohen in the White House briefing room which was contained on his phone. Cohen is standing behind the podium in the photo.

Jurors also saw a calendar entry on Cohen's phone called "Meeting with POTUS" on February 8, 2017.

Daus identified that Cohen's phone contained three encrypted messaging apps: WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal.

Less than an hour after jurors listened to some of Cohen's recordings of his phone calls with Keith Davidson, Daus showed the jurors the location of some of those recordings on Cohen's phone.