Justice Merchan also ruled that Ms McDougal would be able to give testimony as lawyers battled over what evidence would be admissible.
Ms McDougal, who is 24 years Mr Trump’s junior, claimed she embarked on an affair with him shortly before his 60th birthday. They first met at the Playboy mansion while he was filming his Celebrity Apprentice show, she has claimed.
At one point, Justice Merchan scolded Mr Trump as his legal team questioned a potential juror on what they called “extraordinarily hostile Facebook posts” celebrating his election loss in 2020.
He said the former president had been “muttering” while the woman stood nearby, and directed Mr Blanche to speak to his client about his behaviour.
“I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom,” he warned, and refused to dismiss the juror. Mr Trump is reported to have looked on furiously.
However, Justice Merchan struck off another prospective juror who once suggested on social media that Mr Trump should be “lock[ed] up”. He noted that Mr Trump could face a prison sentence if found guilty.
Melania ‘furious’ when reports surfaced
Mrs Trump was furious when reports surfaced in 2018 about her husband’s alleged affair with Ms Daniels, according to the New York Times.
She is apparently angered by the trial and refers to the proceedings as a “disgrace”. Her office has been approached for comment.
On his second day in court, Mr Trump complained that he should be campaigning in battleground states instead of being stuck in court for weeks, and blamed “some accountant I didn’t know” for the alleged falsification of business records.
US President Joe Biden, Mr Trump’s rival in November’s election, has begun a three-day tour of Pennsylvania, where he released an advert about his upbringing in Scranton and is expected to launch a new tax plan for the middle class.
“I should be right now in Pennsylvania, Florida, in many other states – North Carolina, Georgia,” Mr Trump said outside Manhattan Criminal Court. “This is all coming from the Biden White House.”
Instead, the Republican sat through hours of jury selection, occasionally appearing to fall asleep or rest his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.
While he stayed largely expressionless throughout the proceedings, he gave an approving smile and nod when one potential juror said they had read his 1987 bestseller, The Art of the Deal.
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