Court is underway this morning for Day 7 of Donald Trump's hush money trial.

Trump entered the courtroom and took his usual seat at the defense table. He then whispered something to his attorney Todd Blanche, who let out a laugh.

Judge Juan Merchan gaveled in the hearing and said, "Good Morning, Mr. Trump." Trump didn't appear to respond.

Donald Trump visited a New York City construction site early Thursday morning and was greeted by several dozen supporters before speaking to the media and complaining that his hush money trial was keeping him from attending today's pivotal Supreme Court hearing on whether he'll be granted presidential immunity in his federal election interference case.

"We have a big case today -- this judge wouldn't allow me to go, but we have a big case today at the Supreme Court on presidential immunity, a president has to have immunity. If you don't have immunity, you just have a ceremonial president," said Trump.

Trump expressed confidence in the outcome, saying that the Supreme Court has "very talented people, they're very smart, they know what they're doing."

Trump's hush money trial is set to resume this morning with ongoing testimony from former National Enquirer published David Pecker.

Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen vowed to stop making public comments about the former president ahead of his likely testimony in Trump's New York hush money case.

On his podcast and on social media, Cohen has frequently commented about the former president's legal troubles. Trump's lawyers have argued that the former president's comments about Cohen -- which prosecutors allege were in violation of the case's limited gag order -- were in response to political attacks by Cohen.

"Despite not being the gagged defendant, out of respect for Judge Merchan and the prosecutors, I will cease posting anything about Donald on my X (formerly Twitter) account or on the Mea Culpa Podcast until after my trial testimony. See you all in a month (or more)," Cohen said on social media on Wednesday afternoon.

Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche devoted a portion of his opening statement on Monday to attacking Cohen's credibility, describing the former lawyer as a "convicted perjurer" and "admitted liar" who has an "obsession with getting Trump."

Cohen's testimony is expected to be a key part of the state's case against Trump, as prosecutors attempt to prove that Trump falsified business records as he, Cohen and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker engaged in a conspiracy to influence the 2016 election by suppressing negative stories about Trump.

Former President Trump, addressing reporters after court was adjourned for the day, angrily criticized Judge Merchan and the limited gag order that was the topic of this morning's contempt hearing.

"We have a gag order, which to me is totally unconstitutional. I'm not allowed to talk but people are allowed to talk about me," Trump said. "So, they can talk about me, they can say whatever they want, they can lie. But I'm not allowed to say that. I just have to sit back and look at why a conflicted judge has ordered for me to have a gag order. I don't think anybody's ever seen anything like this."

Shuffling through a thick stack of papers, which Trump said were news articles from the past day and a half, the former president continued his criticism.

"So, I put an article on it and then somebody's name is mentioned somewhere deep in the article and I ended up in violation of the gag order," he said. "I think it's a disgrace. It's totally unconstitutional."

Prosecutors this morning asked the judge to fine Trump $10,000 for what the say are 10 recent violations of the limited gag order, which prohibits Trump from making statements about witnesses, jurors, and lawyers in the case other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The judge has yet to issue a ruling.

-Michael Pappano

With Donald Trump following along from the defense table, head cocked slightly to the side, David Pecker described the negotiations conducted with Karen McDougal to purchase the exclusive rights to her story about an alleged year-long relationship with Trump.

Pecker said that Trump's attorney Michael Cohen authorized negotiations to begin, then during those negotiations, "Michael was very agitated," constantly asking "Why is this taking so long?"

"To purchase the lifetime rights to Karen McDougal was going to cost $150,000. Plus Karen wanted to restart her career. She wanted to write for the celebrity magazines. She wanted to be on the cover of the life and fitness titles. She had a major problem when her breast implants were removed and she wanted to write about that," Pecker testified.

Pecker said he asked Cohen, "Who is going to reimburse me for this?" He said Cohen responded "Don't worry about it, I'm your friend the boss will take care of it.'"

When prosecutor Josh Steinglass asked Pecker who "the boss" was, Pecker answered "The boss would have been Donald Trump"

Prosecutors then displayed for the jury the contract with McDougal, dated August 5, 2016. It awarded AMI, the Enquirer's parent company, the rights to her story of a relationship she had "with any then-married man." Pecker said "she was referring to Donald Trump."

Pecker testified he needed to "validate" the amount of money AMI was going to pay, so the contract included other provisions, like having McDougal write monthly columns on aging and fitness.

"With respect to campaign laws, I wanted to have the contract be a record that stipulates the services she was going to perform for American Media had a basis for it, the $150,000," Pecker said.

"Was it your primary purpose to buy the life rights?" Steinglass asked. "Yes it was," Pecker responded.

"Were the other provisions to disguise the true nature of this contract?" Steinglass asked. "Yes," Pecker replied, letting out a sigh.