Trump trial live updates: Closing arguments set to begin today in former president’s hush money case

Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial enters its final stages on Tuesday as the prosecution and defense prepare to deliver their closing arguments in Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom.

The Republican presidential candidate stands accused by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg of falsifying business records in order to conceal a $130,000 payment made to the adult film actress Stormy Daniels in October 2016 in order to ensure her silence about a sexual encounter she alleges she had with the politician a decade earlier.

Trump denies both the extramarital affair and the 34 charges he faces and has repeatedly insisted that the case is a “scam” brought against him by his political enemies in order to keep him cooped up in court and off from the campaign trail.

After five weeks of often explosive testimony, the prosecution hopes to convince the jury of 12 Manhattanites that the misdemeanour offenses with which the defendant has been charged should be elevated to felonies because they were carried out in order to subvert a presidential election, an accusation the defense denies.

The jury could begin its deliberations as soon as Wednesday.

Here’s Alex Woodward with the latest.

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial, with closing arguments scheduled to take place on Tuesday before the jury begin their deliberations on Wednesday.

How long they will take to reach a verdict is anyone’s guess but we could potentially have an answer as soon as tomorrow.

The 12 jurors must unanimously agree on a guilty or not guilty verdict.

If they can’t reach a consensus after several days of deliberations, the judge will likely ask them to keep trying.

If they’re still deadlocked, he could declare a mistrial.