"Good afternoon. We have received a note," Judge Merchan said after taking the bench.

The jury has made four requests for testimony:

- Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker's testimony about the phone conversation with Donald Trump

- Pecker's testimony about the decision regarding the assignment of Playboy model Karen McDougal's life rights

- Pecker's testimony about the 2015 Trump Tower meeting

- Michael Cohen's testimony about the 2015 Trump Tower meeting

The prosecution team has returned to the courtroom, with about seven members of the DA's office in the gallery.

Trump has returned to the courtroom as well.

He entered alongside his lawyer Todd Blanche, with his other lawyers and staff following behind.

As the jury continues its deliberations, Donald Trump posted on his social media platform in all caps that "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE CHARGES ARE IN THIS RIGGED CASE."

"I AM ENTITLED TO SPECIFICITY JUST LIKE ANYONE ELSE," he wrote.

The post comes after Trump watched Judge Merchan spend over an hour instructing the jury on the law and specific charges in the case, including each of the 34 counts that the former president faces for falsifying business records in order to hide a hush money payment to boost his prospects in the 2016 election.

"Mother Teresa could not beat these charges," former President Trump told reporters as he exited the courtroom following Judge Merchan's jury instructions.

"We'll see how we do," Trump said as the jury began its deliberations. "It's a very disgraceful situation."

Trump reiterated his grievances with the judge and case's limited gag order, before complaining that he should be on the campaign trail.

"This is five weeks and five weeks of really, essentially, not campaigning," Trump said.

He exited the hallway without answering any questions from reporters.

-Kelsey Walsh

"The defense has gone to laughable lengths" to make "feeble" arguments to undermine the recording of Donald Trump and Michael Cohen discussing a reimbursement to A.M.I. for the Karen McDougal payment, prosecutor Josh Steinglass said.

Steinglass mocked defense attorney Todd Blanche's effort to cast doubt on the recording because Cohen picked up another call.

"Here's a newsflash: people use their phones," Steinglass said.

Steinglass accused Blanche of using this argument to "muddy the waters" of this case.

"The fact is, no number of misleading questions, wild speculation ... can distract you from one simple fact: the metadata for this file proves it was not tampered with in any way."

"This recording is nothing short of jaw dropping," Steinglass said before replaying the recording.

"This tape unequivocally shows a presidential candidate actively engaging in scheme to influence the election by reimbursing AMI for killing the McDougal story, and that's why they are desperate to discredit it," Steinglass said.

"This recording shows the defendant's cavalier willingness to hide this payment," he said. "This shows the defendant suggesting paying in cash. It doesn't even matter if that means a bag of cash or a lump sum. It doesn't matter because he's trying to do it in a way that's not going to leave a paper trail -- that's the point."

Court was then recessed for the mid-afternoon break, with the prosecution's closing argument expected to take at least another two hours.