With the morning session completed, a more subdued Donald Trump has been in the courtroom today.

Unlike when Trump attended the trial last week, there have been no outbursts from Trump and no sparring with the judge. There are hardly any of the audible comments or hand gesturing that was observed earlier.

Instead, Trump has sat calmly and listened to the testimony, occasionally conferring quietly with his attorneys. When a video was played of him from just a few days ago repeating the claim that he "didn't know" E. Jean Carroll, he nodded along with the video and silently mouthed the words "true."

In fact, the only real disturbance today came when a cell phone -- which Judge Kaplan strictly prohibits in the courtroom -- rang in the galley.

"Whose telephone was that?" the judge asked. "Take that man out of here."

It turned out to be Trump campaign spokesperson Stephen Cheung-- who was removed from the courtroom by security.

Trump may take the witness stand when the proceedings resume after a break.

On cross-examination by Carroll's attorney Shawn Crowley, former television newswoman Carol Martin explained the safety concerns she said she had due to her association with E. Jean Carroll and her lawsuit against Donald Trump.

"I am a huge consumer of news and I keep up with everything that I can, as it happens, and the climate in the country felt dangerous to me," said Martin, a longtime friend of Carroll's. "Mr. Trump was saying he didn't lose the election and I was very concerned that my friend was right in the middle of a lawsuit like this one."

She also testified her comments about Carroll's "narcissism" and "lifestyle" were made out of concern that Carroll might lose at trial. Martin testified that when she called Carroll a "drug addict," she meant she was very passionate.

"I used the word drug addict. Bad word to use," Martin said.

"Are you suspicious of her motives?" asked Crowley.

"I am not suspicious of her motives," Martin replied.

Former television newswoman Carol Martin, testifying as a hostile witness for the defense, said that her longtime friend E. Jean Carroll "has an admirable reputation in the workplace."

Martin testified that she did, "on some levels," have concern for her safety and her daughter's safety after Carroll went public in 2019 with her sexual assault accusation against Donald Trump. Martin was among the friends Carroll had told about the assault.

"As I saw the popularity of that article, my daughter became more concerned," Martin said of the 2019 New York magazine story in which Carroll made the accusation.

"Ms. Carroll assured you she didn't have security concerns?" defense attorney Alina Habba asked. "That was her opinion," Martin said. "Jeanie didn't want us to worry."

Habba has argued that the harm Carroll said she suffered as a result of Trump's defamatory statements is overblown.

"Did you think Ms. Carroll enjoyed the attention?" Habba asked. "At points, in early years," Martin responded. She also affirmed she had texted a friend that Carroll's "narcissism had run amok."

Martin testified that "at some point" she became frustrated with what Habba described as Carroll's "celebratory behavior" in connection with her lawsuits against Trump. "It's a difference in our personalities, but we work around it," Martin said.

At one point Martin said she felt Carroll was "loving the adulation."

"Do you believe Ms. Carroll is enjoying this fame to some extent?" Habba asked. "I think she is adapting to this phase in her life. Enjoying is a multifaceted word," Martin said, ending her direct examination.

The defense's motion for a directed verdict, made after Carroll's attorneys rested their case, asked the judge to end the trial due to a lack of evidence.

"Ms. Carroll has failed to establish any causal link between her claim for damages and President Trump's statement," defense attorney Alina Habba said. "On causation alone, she has not proven her facts."

Habba argued, as she did in her opening statement, that people were disparaging Carroll prior to Trump issuing his defamatory denials. She also argued Carroll could not prove she received death threats at the time because she deleted messages that contained them, prompting an interjection from the judge.

"Your theory here is that she should be punished because, before there was litigation, she deleted tweets that could be helpful to her?" Judge Lewis Kaplan asked. "That's not my argument," Habba replied. "Sounds like it," the judge said.

Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, argued that she had met her burden.

"We believe there is more than ample evidence, causation, here to allow the case to go to the jury," Roberta Kaplan said.

The judge denied the defense's motion. Next up will be the defense's first witness.

Trump attorney Alina Habba, in her closing argument, questioned the sincerity of E. Jean Carroll's claims of emotional and professional harm and accused her of trying to pin the comments of Twitter trolls on a president of the United States.

"Ms. Carroll has failed to show she is entitled to any damages at all," Habba said.

Habba attempted to suggest that Donald Trump could not defend himself and that Carroll had paid for a lawyer for her friend Carol Martin, who testified as a hostile witness for the defense -- but Carroll's attorneys objected and Judge Lewis Kaplan sustained the objection.

"If you violate my instructions again, Ms. Habba, there could be consequences," the judge warned.

Habba said that Carroll failed to prove causation, slowly annunciating the word loudly into the microphone.

"They have to prove a direct causal connection between the harm they say she suffered and [Trump's] statements," Habba said, arguing that there were independent critics messaging Carroll before Trump issued his defamatory statements denying Carroll's June 2019 sexual assault allegation.

"This is the beauty and dangers of free speech in America. Everyone is entitled to their opinion," Habba said, asserting that Trump has no more control over the thoughts and feelings of social media users "than he does the weather."

"It is Ms. Carroll's burden, not President Trump's, to prove his statements are the cause of any harm, and clearly she has failed to meet that burden," Habba argued.

She also questioned the legitimacy of the harm Carroll claims to have suffered. "Who is E. Jean?" Habba asked, telling the jury there are two versions, and asserting that the true E. Jean Carroll is a narcissist out for fame and attention, "and the one who comes to court to get money from my client."

Habba also chided Carroll for deleting messages containing death threats -- which Carroll said she did because they were painful to see -- and for never calling the police.

"She deleted her own evidence," Habba said. "She has to give them to you to support their claim for damages, but they're not here and that's a fact."

As Trump looked on, hunched forward, hands folded on the table, Habba quoted his brief testimony saying he did not intend to hurt Carroll.

"We do not know the true identities of the people who sent the messages to Ms. Carroll," Habba said. "President Trump should not have to pay for their threats. He does not condone them. He did not direct them. All he did was tell his truth."