Judge Merchan is back on the bench, and the parties -- including Trump -- are seated at the counsel tables for the pre-charge conference that will help determine the jury instructions.

Trump, seated next to attorney Susan Necheles, has a pile of papers in front of him.

Donald Trump, addressing the media ahead of this afternoon's pre-charge conference, told reporters, "This next couple of hours is very important."

Judge Juan Merchan is preparing to hear arguments from attorneys regarding the instructions the judge will provide jurors about the law and evidence in the case when the jury begins deliberating next week.

Trump declined to answer questions from the reporters about why he decided not to testify in the case, and whether he is nervous about a possible conviction.

Judge Merchan asked the parties to return to the courtroom at 2:15 p.m. ET. for the previously scheduled pre-charge conference.

It will provide an opportunity for the parties to weigh in on the instructions Merchan will provide the jury about the law and evidence in the case.

Trump and his entourage then filed out of the courtroom.

Following the defense resting its case, Judge Juan Merchan told the parties that "summations will not be quick" and that they "will take at least a day." Jury instructions will then take at least an hour, he said.

"At the end of the day, I think the best thing we can do is to adjourn now until next Tuesday. At that time you will hear summations from the attorneys," Merchan said.

Merchan says that deliberations could begin as early as next Wednesday.

Merchan told the jury he opted to delay the summations because of this week's abbreviated schedule and his belief that "it's always ideal or best not to break up summations."

Trump's eyes were closed, his head titled back, as Merchan instructed the jury to return on Tuesday.

The jury then left the courtroom.

The prosecution objected to the defense calling Robert Costello, Michael Cohen's former attorney to the stand.

Out of earshot of the jury, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Judge Merchan to omit Costello or limit his testimony to two questions.

"I think there's very limited testimony that's permissible here if at all," Hoffinger said.

The defense said it wants to use Costello to rebut Cohen's testimony about a "pressure campaign" carried out against him not to flip on Trump after Cohen made Stormy Daniels payment.

Costello, a longtime Trump ally, testified before the grand jury in March 2023 as an exculpatory witness at the request of Trump's attorneys.