Addressing reporters in the hallway before he entered the courtroom, Trump spoke about the current House speaker race, his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and his false allegations of a rigged election.

"We're a nation in decline, all because of a rigged and stolen election," Trump said before entering court for the resumption of Michael Cohen's cross-examination.

Before Cohen returned to the stand, defense attorney Alina Habba requested that Judge Engoron and his clerk refrain from any distracting behavior.

"It is incredibly distracting when there are eye rolls and constant whispering at the bench," said Habba, who added that the judge she clerked for earlier in her career was "very strict."

Susan Hoffinger, who is leading Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's criminal hush money case against Donald Trump, is attendance at the trial this morning. With Cohen serving as a key witness in that case, Hoffinger also was in court yesterday to hear Cohen's direct examination.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is also back in the courtroom for the second day of Cohen's testimony.

Seated in the gallery behind her team of lawyers, James encounters Trump each time he enters and exits the courtroom, though it appears the two rarely make eye contact.

Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen is set to face a grueling day of cross examination, as defense lawyers attempt to discredit him after his potentially damaging testimony yesterday.

Calm and confident when answering questions from a state lawyer, Cohen dealt a blow to his former boss early in his testimony yesterday when he said he "reverse engineered" Trump's financial statements to "achieve the number" Trump wanted, inflating the values of assets such as Trump Park Avenue, Trump World Tower, and the Miss Universe Pageant to achieve Trump's desired figure -- though his testimony was notably devoid of notes, communications, or draft financials to support his claims.

Trump's lawyer Alina Habba hammered at Cohen's inconsistencies during the first hour of cross-examination, confronting Cohen with his past guilty pleas and history of false testimony. A disbarred lawyer, Cohen's answers grew combative at times, often responding to questions with "objection" or "asked and answered."

Trump said in a Truth Social post this morning that he plans to attend court for a second day in a row. In a social media post overnight, he described Cohen's testimony yesterday as a "complete and total disaster."

New York Attorney General Letitia James offered a contrasting opinion of Cohen's testimony in a video statement posted to social media.

"Donald Trump lives in a fantasy land. He directed those around him to lie and scheme to make his fantasy a reality," James said.

Michael Cohen underwent a forceful cross-examination by Trump attorney Alina Habba in the day's final court session.

"You are not on Mea Culpa. You are not on your podcast, and you are not on CNN. You're here with me," Habba instructed Trump's former attorney during the questioning.

Compared to Cohen's direct examination -- when Trump could often be seen conferring with the lawyers by his side, examining exhibits, or passing notes around -- Trump had a more positive demeanor during the cross.

Cohen himself grew combative at parts of the questioning, responding "objection" and "asked and answered" as if he were a lawyer at counsel table, rather than a witness on the stand.

"You have lied under oath numerous times, isn't that correct, Mr. Cohen?" Habba asked at one point.

"That is correct," Cohen replied.

Habba even admitted that she was enjoying herself during the questioning, after Judge Engoron offered to cut testimony short for the day.

"It is entertaining -- I am happy to go all night," Habba said.

Exiting court at the end of the afternoon, Cohen declined to comment about the ongoing cross-examination.

"He's a disgraced felon, and that's the way it's coming out," Trump said on his way out.

Donald Trump Jr. struggled to answer questions when pressed about why former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg departed the family's firm.

"Because some legal issues he got himself into," Trump Jr. said, declining to offer specifics about Weisselberg's guilty plea on tax evasion charges last year.

Previously giving lengthy answers to questions about his background and even smiling with the judge, Trump Jr. appeared tense on the witness stand as he answered questions about Weisselberg.

"The specific event was he was indicted," Trump Jr. said.

He added that when began working for the Trump Organization as an executive vice president in the 2010s, Weisselberg outranked him. Trump Jr. would seek Weisselberg's approval for certain business decisions such as refinancing loans.

"Who is above you in your role as an executive vice president in the Trump Organization?" state attorney Colleen Faherty asked.

"Obviously I would have reported to my father in that period of time … people like Allen Weisselberg would have still been senior to me," Trump Jr. said of that time period.

Trump Jr. said he gained more responsibility in 2016 when his father became president and he was named a trustee of his father's revocable trust. He said that he, Weisselberg and his brother Eric Trump became a kind of triumvirate running the Trump Organization.

"We stopped reporting to my father on decisions involving the business," Trump Jr. said.

That relationship broke down once Weisselberg got himself into "legal issues," Trump Jr. said. He testified that he could not recall the circumstances of Weisselberg's exit, including the multimillion-dollar severance deal that Weisselberg received, which Weisselberg faced questions about during his own testimony earlier this month.

"I have no knowledge of the specifics of how it happened. He is no longer working at the Trump Organization," Trump Jr. said of the former CFO.