The marathon task of trying America's most famous man: Trump 'smirked' as he became the first ex-president to stand trial... then watched as almost all would-be jurors were sent home in the historic and chaotic first day of the hush money case

The first trial of a former U.S. president began not with fireworks, angry polemic or theatrics. 

It began with a moment of quiet solemnity as 96 prospective jurors were sworn in at Manhattan criminal court on Monday afternoon.

And then half were dismissed after admitting there was no possible way they could stop their strong feelings about Donald Trump getting in the way of a fair verdict.

Trump, whose norm-busting time in office has given way to a precedent shattering post-presidency, sat grim faced through much of the proceedings. 

'You are about to participate in a trial by jury. The system of trial by jury is one the cornerstones of our judicial system,' Judge Juan Merchan told the dozens of potential jurors arrayed before him. 

'The name of this case is the People of the State of New York vs. Donald Trump.'

As he described in broad brush strokes the basis of the case—that Trump fiddled business records to hide payments allegedly made to silence ex lovers ahead of the 2016 election—some of the jurors craned their necks to get a view of the blond-haired figure in front of them.

Trump stood and turned to look at them when Merchan introduced him and his legal team. The former president offered a tight-lipped smile as he surveyed the New Yorkers who could hold the fate of the 2024 election in their hands. 

Merchan read a list of potential witnesses or other names that could come up during the trial, from Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal (two women at the center of the case) to family members such as Melania and Don Jr, to former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen, and officials in his White House such as Reince Priebus.

Finding a dozen men and women (plus alternates) who do not hold strong opinions about Trump or the witnesses will be hard. Especially in a liberal enclave like Manhattan where Trump won just 12 percent of the vote in 2020.

In fact the judge has set an easier task: Finding a dozen people who can set aside their feelings to decide a verdict on only the evidence before them.

Or maybe not.

When he asked the first batch of potential jurors whether or not they could not be impartial in the case, 50 immediately raised their hands and were excused.

Trump turned and craned his neck to watch them leave courtroom 1530, whispering to his lead lawyer Todd Blanche. 

In the hallway outside courtroom 1530, one of the departing jurors, a woman with short hair in her 30s, said: 'I just couldn't do it.' 

Then it was down to the nitty gritty of picking jurors. One by one, they were asked to work through a questionnaire of 42 questions (some with multiple parts).

Sample question: 'Have you ever considered yourself a supporter of or belonged to any of the following: (the QAnon movement, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, Boogaloo Boys, Antifa).'

The first few potential jurors revealed just how hard the task will be in Manhattan. One had an MBA, two of the first three named the New York Times as their source for news, no one mentioned NewsMax or Fox News.

The third juror, a young woman who likes clubbing and said she gets her news from TikTok and Al Jazeera, was excused after answering in the affirmative to question 34: 'Do you have any strong opinions or firmly held beliefs about former President Donald Trump, or the fact that he is a current candidate for president that would interfere with your ability to be a fair and impartial juror?'

Another was excused because his daughter is about to be married in Seattle. 

A bookseller from the Upper West Side outlined his thoughts on the justice system and how it should be applied: 'I feel that nobody is above the law, whether it be a former president or a sitting president or a janitor.'

He was followed by a prosecutor from the rarefied Upper East Side.

Each candidate took about six minutes to work through the list. Trump, who refuses to wear his reading glasses in public, peered at a copy of the questions and followed along.

At times, he craned his neck to the right to scrutinize the candidates. 

It was a slow process. 'We'll be here until Thanksgiving,' said a wag in the overflow room, 1523, where proceedings were screened by video link. Two weeks is a more realistic guess.

And the prospective jurors weren't even brought into the court room until 2:30pm.

The day ended without a single juror having made the final list. 

The morning had been taken up with complex legal arguments about exactly what evidence they could hear and what it could look at.

So they will learn about some extraordinary headlines in the National Enquirer about his 2016 rivals for the Republican nomination, such as Ted Cruz (and the untrue story that his father was involved in the assassination of JFK) and Marco Rubio (and made-up stories that he was a drug addict embroiled in a sex scandal).

Prosecutors said it was part of understanding a deal struck between the Trump campaign and the magazine's owners American Media Inc. 

Central to the prosecution's case is a 'catch and kill' scheme where Trump's allies would buy up kiss-and-tell stories and quietly make sure they were never published. 

It went into effect, they said, was that any revelations could harm his 2016 campaign.

One of the people involved was allegedly former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claims she had a year long affair with Trump, including when his wife Melania was pregnant.

Prosecutor Josh Steinglass said the fact it occurred when Melania was pregnant and after their son was born 'speaks directly to the extent to which the defendant believes the story could be damaging to his campaign.'

Todd Blanche, for the defense pushed back, saying it included 'unproven allegations.' 'It's literally just salacious with no value,' he said.

Judge Merchan said his previous ruling stood, allowing McDougal to testify, but he that he would not allow evidence that Trump's wife was pregnant at the time.

Trump looked stony faced as he listened intently. At times he whispered to Blanche or glared at the judge.

He spoke only three times, answering when asked if he understood the so-called 'Parker warnings' advising him that he is entitled to be in court, but could be removed or even imprisoned if he is disruptive.

Each time, he nodded and said 'yes,' in a quiet voice.