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."

If former President Trump opts to testify in the trial, prosecutors want to question him about all the times he has been held liable in civil court, according to a new court filing in the case.

Prosecutors have asked Judge Juan Merchan to hold a hearing, known as a Sandoval hearing, to determine the scope of what they can ask Trump on cross-examination.

"We are prepared to do a Sandoval hearing now, later or whenever the court desires," Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said on Monday.

The judge has not set a date for the hearing but suggested it could be Friday.

In their filing, prosecutors outlined the civil cases they'd like to bring up during the criminal trial, including the $464 million judgment in Trump's civil fraud case, the defamation and battery cases brought by E. Jean Carroll and a lawsuit Trump filed against Hillary Clinton claiming she conspired to rig the 2016 election, for which Trump and his lawyers faced legal sanctions after the case was thrown out as frivolous.

Prosecutors also want to question Trump about a criminal case his company lost in 2022, when the Trump Organization was convicted of tax evasion by providing non-cash compensation to top executives.

They also want to bring up a civil case the New York attorney general won against the Trump Foundation for misusing charitable donations.