Trump Trial Day 20 Takeaways: Defense Rests and Closing Arguments Are Next Week

On Tuesday morning, five weeks after the first jurors were seated for the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, the defense rested, with closing arguments and then jury deliberations scheduled for after Memorial Day weekend.

And, despite dangling the possibility, Mr. Trump did not testify.

Testimony started April 22 with a tabloid publisher called by the prosecution, David Pecker, and ended with a lawyer called by the defense, Robert Costello. In between were a porn star, Stormy Daniels; Mr. Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen; an erstwhile aide of Mr. Trump, Hope Hicks; and a bevy of lesser-known witnesses, mostly for the prosecution.

The former president is charged with falsifying 34 business records to hide Mr. Cohen’s reimbursement for a $130,000 hush-money payment he made to Ms. Daniels, who says she had sex with Mr. Trump in 2006. Mr. Trump, 77, has denied the charges and the encounter. If convicted, he could face prison or probation.

Here are five takeaways from Mr. Trump’s 20th day on trial.

The defense’s big witness may not have been a great idea.

Mr. Costello, once Mr. Cohen’s informal adviser, continued on the stand on Tuesday, after a reprimand Monday from Justice Juan M. Merchan, who said he had been “contemptuous.”

Mr. Costello had been called by the defense to attack Mr. Cohen’s credibility, but during cross-examination, prosecutors sought to portray him as an agent of Mr. Trump, suggesting he was trying to prevent Mr. Cohen from cooperating with federal investigators. That included reading an email from Mr. Costello saying he was trying to “get Cohen on the right page.”

The defense had hoped to damage Mr. Cohen — a key prosecution witness — beyond repair. Mr. Costello’s choppy performance may be remembered, too.

Trump talked a lot, just not in court.

Mr. Trump’s vociferousness has never been questioned. During the trial, he regularly spoke outside the courtroom, including Tuesday, when he repeated refrains slamming the trial and complaining about the courtroom temperature.

While he called the trial “election interference,” saying it was impeding his campaign, Mr. Trump did squeeze in rallies on weekends and off-days, as well as some golf.

But after teasing an appearance on the stand, he declined to testify. And after violating a gag order 10 times, he carped carefully, particularly after Justice Merchan threatened jail time.

Trump’s entourage exhibited his pull over his party.

Republican politicians might not normally flock to defend a person enmeshed in a trial prompted by a porn star’s story of extramarital sex. But Mr. Trump has a tight hold on his party, and right-wing luminaries came to support their presumptive presidential nominee.

Throughout the trial, visitors included several potential vice-presidential candidates — including Senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican, and Vivek Ramaswamy, who was once Mr. Trump’s primary opponent — and a brood of Republican lawmakers. Mr. Trump’s son, Donald Jr., also attended Tuesday; another son, Eric, was a regular. There was also a former leader of New York’s Hells Angels chapter.

Many visitors then attacked witnesses, something Mr. Trump could not do because of the gag order.

Perhaps the most notable attendee was Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, who called the trial “corrupt” and a “sham.” It was a remarkable attack on the legal system by a staunch conservative who is second in line to the presidency — and an indication of Mr. Trump’s sway.

Some key figures were never called to the stand.

Notable as some witnesses were, absences were also interesting. One big name: Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who says she had an affair with Mr. Trump in 2006 and 2007. Mr. Trump denies this, and she was not called as a witness, though she indicated she was keeping an eye on the case.

Other unseen characters who were frequently mentioned included Keith Schiller, the former president’s bodyguard, and Dylan Howard, a former editor of The National Enquirer, who had a medical condition that prevented him traveling from Australia.

Both might have told interesting tales: Mr. Howard helped buy up and bury unflattering stories about Mr. Trump, including Ms. McDougal’s. He also participated in discussions about Ms. Daniels’s story.

Mr. Schiller was close to Mr. Trump, and fielded a call from Mr. Cohen in which Mr. Cohen says he discussed Ms. Daniels with the former president. But Mr. Schiller was not called by the prosecution or defense.

It will be at least a week before the jury starts to deliberate.

Jurors will return May 28 for closing arguments, which Justice Merchan predicted would last the entire day. On Tuesday afternoon, lawyers argued over jury instructions, an important part of any trial.

After several hours of debate, with both sides seemingly winning some points, Justice Merchan said he would provide a final version of those instructions on Thursday.

Justice Merchan said he hoped deliberations would begin May 29. And after sitting silently through 22 witnesses over 16 days of testimony, the jurors’ verdict will be unprecedented: the first in an American president’s criminal trial.