Trump trial: 1st week of testimony ends with testimony from Cohen's former banker

Former President Trump, sitting at the defense table, just finished listening to opposite reviews of his presidency and character.

First, a prospective female juror bluntly said, "I don't like his persona," when asked if she has any strong opinions about him.

"The way he presents himself in public ... he is just very selfish and self serving," the prospective juror said. "So I don't really appreciate that in any public servant. I don't know him as a person ... but just how he is in public, and how he carries himself in public, it's not my cup of tea."

Trump seemed to be leaning forward listening carefully to her answer, at times fidgeting. He leaned back and crossed his arms when she finished.

Then, a male prospective juror took the mic and said he found Trump "pretty amazing."

"He was a businessman in New York. He forged his way," the prospective juror said. "He kind of made history ... I’m impressed with that.”

Trump leaned forward again, listening to this new answer.

"I started as an entrepeneur as well ... made a lot of things happen," the prospective juror said. "Just like he has."

A lifelong New Yorker who works in law enforcement, he said that his love of hockey also made him feel warmly toward Trump.

“As a wannabe hockey player, I still thank him for fixing that Wollman Rink that nobody could fix,” he said of the ice skating rink in Central Park that Trump had refurbished in the 1980s.

Defense attorney Susan Necheles is now questioning the potential jurors to probe for any bias they might have regarding the former president.

"Do you have strong feelings about President Trump?" Necheles asked a prospective juror who lives on the Upper West Side and works in publishing.

"I disagree with most of his policies," she responded, though she added she did not have a strong opinion of Trump personally. "It is purely a political opinion."

A woman who lives in Inwood and works as a paralegal at a major law firm acknowledged that she might have made some negative social media posts about Trump.

"His politics aren't always my politics," she said of the former president.

"Is this going to affect how you are going to look at the evidence of this case, even if you want to be fair?" Necheles asked the jurors broadly.

As the jury selection process continued, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass acknowledged to the prospective jurors that some of the witnesses in the case have "some baggage" -- something that Donald Trump has harped on repeatedly as he's sought to call into question the credibility of the witnesses who may testify against him.

"Some of the witnesses have what you might consider some baggage," Steinglass said, noting they would hear from "a tabloid publisher," a "porn star," and a "former lawyer" of Donald Trump who has plead guilty to other crimes. Steinglass said some of them have gone on podcasts, or "publicly denied" some facts in the case.

"Will you keep an open mind?" Steinglass asked.

Few of the prospective jurors took issue with it.

One prospective juror said she's "100% confident" she can keep an open mind.

"I'd have to wait to hear everything and see if it's compelling or not," said another.

Court resumed after the lunch break with the individual questioning of 18 prospective jurors, who are seated in the jury box.

Assistant District Attorney Josh Steinglass began with a rhetorical question for the group: "How am I considered for this case of all cases?"

Steinglass said the case was not a referendum on the Trump presidency or anyone's politics. "This case is about whether this man broke the law," he said, gesturing toward Trump.

"I could be objective," one of the prospective jurors, the security officer with Rangers seats and a flip phone, said.

Before the questions resumed, Judge Juan Merchan addressed the temperature in the courtroom.

"I want to apologize that it's chilly in here," Merchan said.

Earlier, when defense attorney Todd Blanche asked to make the courtroom warmer, the judge had said he feared a one-degree bump in the nearly century-old building could increase the temperature by 30 degrees.