After attorneys for each side introduced themselves, Judge Juan Merchan said that before jury selection can begin "there are a couple of loose ends we need to go over before we start."

The first item, Merchan said, was a pair of motions filed by Trump's legal team seeking his recusal from the case, citing his past comments in interviews and his daughter's work with a Democrat-affiliated firm.

The motions, Merchan said, cite "pages and pages of screen grabs, articles, social media posts and the like" that amount only to "a series of inferences, innuendos, and unsupported speculation."

To call them "attenuated is an understatement," Merchan said.

Merchan denied the motion and said the court would not address the matter further.

"All rise," the bailiff announced at 9:59 a.m. ET. "This is the People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump."

And with that, proceedings are underway.

Members of the prosecution and the defense, including the former president, stood briefly as Judge Juan Merchan entered the courtroom and took his seat on the bench.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg entered the courtroom shortly before court went into session.

Former President Trump arrived at the courtroom at 9:32 a.m. flanked by members of his legal team.

In brief remarks to reporters on the way in, he called his criminal trial an "assault on America."

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," Trump said, marking his first comments of the day as he becomes the first former American president to face criminal charges.

"There is no case," he said. "This is political persecution."

Trump also attacked President Joe Biden and said the case should not go forward.

Upon entering the courtroom, he sat at the defendant's table as his lawyers and court officers buzzed around him.

Several members of the Manhattan district attorney’s office have arrived in the courtroom.

Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Donald Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche, during the contempt hearing on the limited gag order in the case, defended the former president's comments by arguing that Trump was responding to political attacks.

"President Trump does in fact know what the gag order allows him to do and not allow him to do," Blanche said. "There is no dispute that President Trump is facing a barrage of political attacks from all sides."

According to Blanche, while the limited gag order prohibits statements about a witness' potential participation in a case, Trump is allowed to make comments in response to political attacks from potential witnesses like Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.

"They are talking about their very strong dislike of President Trump," Blanche said about a post related to former Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti's comments on Michael Cohen.

Judge Juan Merchan questioned Blanche about what exactly made Trump's response "political" in nature.

"You believe that everything Mr. Avenatti said does not relate to the trial, but the use of the word 'pardon' makes it political and in a sense authorizes your client to respond?" Merchan asked.

"It's everything. It can't just be a single word," Blanche responded.

"When your client is violating the gag, I expect more than one word," Merchan said.

Conroy asked Merchan to advise Trump that for future violations of the gag order, "incarceration is an option should it be necessary."