Political and legal history are being made in a Lower Manhattan courtroom as Donald J. Trump becomes the first former U.S. president to undergo a criminal trial.


Jonah Bromwich, who covers criminal justice in New York, explains what happened during the opening days of the trial, which is tied to Mr. Trump’s role in a hush-money payment to a porn star.


Guest: Jonah E. Bromwich (https://www.nytimes.com/by/jonah-e-br...) , who covers criminal justice in New York for The New York Times.


Background reading: 

• Here’s a recap (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/ny...) of the courtroom proceedings so far.
• Mr. Trump’s trial enters its third day (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/18/ny...) with seven jurors chosen.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily (http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-t...) . Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.