Former President Donald Trump reiterated his plans to testify in his criminal trial as he exited the courtroom at the end of the day.

"We just had another hearing and the trial starts on Monday, which is long before a lot of people thought," Trump said. "The judge wants to go as fast as possible."

The former president again, without evidence, called the trial a witch hunt orchestrated by his political rivals.

-Mike Pappano

Judge Juan Merchan declined to order prosecutors to disclose their first witness after defense attorneys remade a request from yesterday.

"I still think that under the circumstances, the people's response is understandable, and I am not going to compel them to do anything," Merchan said, citing the hearing set for Tuesday to hold Trump in contempt for violating the judge's limited gag order.

Yesterday, prosecutors expressed concern that Trump might attack the initial witnesses if he learned their names. Today, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass offered a compromise -- that they would turn over the first witnesses name on Sunday with a strict condition.

"If that should be tweeted, that will be the last time we extend that courtesy," Steinglass said.

Steinglass said that while the testimony of the first witness will likely begin on Monday, it is unlikely the witness finishes their direct examination by the end of the day.

Court was subsequently recessed for the day.

An appeals court judge has denied the defense's request for an emergency stay of the trial.

Trump earlier Friday filed the emergency appeal as he sought to change the venue of the trial based on some of the responses prospective jurors gave during the jury selection process.

The appeals court judge denied Trump's request to delay the start of the trial.

Trump's prior attempts to move the trial out of Manhattan have failed.

"We're going to have opening statements on Monday morning," Judge Juan Merchan declared.

He made the pronouncement after admonishing the defense to stop filing letters "targeting individual decisions one by one by one."

"There comes a point where you accept my rulings," he told Trump and his defense team.

"I've entertained your motions. I've entertained your arguments," Merchan said. "There's nothing else to clarify. There is nothing else to argue. We are going to have opening statements on Monday. We are starting on Monday."

A woman who works for New York City told the court, "I'm a public servant and I've built my entire career trying to serve the city I live in and I see this as an extension of that," as individual questioning of prospective jurors continued.

She had signaled she had strong views about campaign finance, but said "I don't believe so" when Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass asked whether that would affect her ability to judge the case fairly.

Earlier, a self-employed woman who has lived on the Upper East Side for 25 years let out an audible sigh.

She had reached the part of the questionnaire that asked whether she can decide the case solely on the evidence and whether she had strong beliefs about Trump that would inhibit her from being fair.

"I'm not 100% sure I could be fair," the woman said, and was excused.

When a school teacher from Harlem who is in her late 20s answered the same question, she spoke about the 2020 election.

"There was a divide in the country and I can't ignore that," she said. "However, I never equated that to one individual." She remained in the jury pool.