After attorneys for each side introduced themselves, Judge Juan Merchan said that before jury selection can begin "there are a couple of loose ends we need to go over before we start."

The first item, Merchan said, was a pair of motions filed by Trump's legal team seeking his recusal from the case, citing his past comments in interviews and his daughter's work with a Democrat-affiliated firm.

The motions, Merchan said, cite "pages and pages of screen grabs, articles, social media posts and the like" that amount only to "a series of inferences, innuendos, and unsupported speculation."

To call them "attenuated is an understatement," Merchan said.

Merchan denied the motion and said the court would not address the matter further.

"All rise," the bailiff announced at 9:59 a.m. ET. "This is the People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump."

And with that, proceedings are underway.

Members of the prosecution and the defense, including the former president, stood briefly as Judge Juan Merchan entered the courtroom and took his seat on the bench.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg entered the courtroom shortly before court went into session.

Former President Trump arrived at the courtroom at 9:32 a.m. flanked by members of his legal team.

In brief remarks to reporters on the way in, he called his criminal trial an "assault on America."

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," Trump said, marking his first comments of the day as he becomes the first former American president to face criminal charges.

"There is no case," he said. "This is political persecution."

Trump also attacked President Joe Biden and said the case should not go forward.

Upon entering the courtroom, he sat at the defendant's table as his lawyers and court officers buzzed around him.

Several members of the Manhattan district attorney’s office have arrived in the courtroom.

Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. ET.

A prospective juror who went through questioning but was ultimately excused from the case told ABC News outside the courthouse that she didn't like the former president, but that it was important he get a fair trial.

"I don't like him, I don't approve of what he did as president," said Kara McGee, when asked by ABC News about her feelings on Trump. "But the right to a fair trial is extremely important. And if this would serve to uphold that, then that would be my priority."

McGee was excused from the case because of scheduling conflicts with her job.

"No matter what you think about someone as a person, or what other things they may have done, what he is on trial for is a very specific thing that even he deserves the right to a fair trial," she said.

Asked about the sentiment of the other prospective jurors on their opinions of Trump, McGee said it "seemed pretty even, surprisingly."

"I thought because this is Manhattan it might be a little bit more liberal, but there were a number of people who said 'Yes, I listen to Fox, I watch Fox, I have been on Trump mailing lists in the past,'" she said. "So not really leaning towards one side or the other, that I can tell."

"You got a sense that people were really trying to put anything that they had brought to this aside, and step in and do their civic duty," she said. "And that people really were being honest."