Donald Trump trial LIVE: Ex-president joked National Enquirer boss David Pecker knew more information than FBI director James Comey and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Donald Trump arrived at the Manhattan criminal court where he wished wife Melania Trump a happy birthday.

'I want to start by wishing my wife Melania a very happy birthday,' he said.

'It'd be best to be with her, but I'm at a courthouse for a rigged trial,' he added.

Trump said the former first lady is in Florida, and he will be heading there Friday evening.

The ex-president is in court for his hush money trial over payments to a porn star.

The court is on a short break.

Trump has left the courtroom, but the lawyers remain in the courtroom.

Pecker recalled Trump once made a joke about Pecker knowing 'more about information' than his own FBI Director and Secretary of State.

Bove asked about a meeting where Trump had officials gathered around his desk including James Comey and Mike Pompeo.

Pecker recalled Trump joking he knew more information than the officials.

It came while they were discussing a shooting that had taken place at the Fort Lauderdale airport.

The hearing on Trump's alleged 14 violations of the gag order has been moved to Thursday, May 2 at 9:30 a.m. ET.

It is a change since Judge Merchan had said Thursday evening that the hearing would take place next Wednesday.

He scheduled another hearing after the prosecution added four more violations to the list of Trump's alleged offenses.

Prosecutor Josh Steinglass repeatedly objected to Bove referring to Trump as ‘President Trump’ when asking Pecker about a June 2016 phone call they had together.

Steinglass said: ‘He wasn’t President Trump in June of 2016!’

Judge Juan Merchan sustained the objection and moved on.

David Pecker is back on the witness stand for cross-examination where Donald Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove suggested articles about Trump’s rivals ‘made sense from a business perspective.’

Bove asked about stories running in the National Enquirer on Bill and Hillary Clinton and whether it was a good business decision to run them.

Pecker said it was. He also confirmed AMI was running articles on the Clintons before the August 2015 meeting.

Bove also asked a line of questions about former Trump aide Hope Hicks.

He pressed for inconsistencies in Pecker's testimony over Hicks presence at the 2015 Trump Tower meeting.

Pecker conceded that Hicks did not participate or speak during that meeting.

“I’m at the heavily guarded Courthouse. Security is that of Fort Knox, all so that MAGA will not be able to attend this trial, presided over by a highly conflicted pawn of the Democrat Party. It is a sight to behold! Getting ready to do my Courthouse presser. Two minutes!” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social.

Trump has in front of him on the desk a large stack of papers.

The front page shows the date '1813'.

It says: 'An anatomy of Poltical Prosecution: The Manhattan District Attorney's Office's Vendetta Against President Donald Trump'

Donald Trump says he listened to the Supreme Court arguments on immunity which took place on Thursday while Trump was in New York on trial.

'I heard the argument was brilliant,' Trump said after walking into court Friday morning.

He says he listened to it last night and he thought it was 'really great' and the 'judges' questions were great.'

'All presidents have to have immunity,' Trump said. 'It has nothing to do with me, absolutely nothing. All presidents have to have immunity.'

He added that he believes yesterday went 'very well' in the New York courtroom as well.

'It should be over,' Trump said and attacked the judge has 'highly conflicted.'

Trump also complained about the 'freezing courthouse.'

'It's very cold in there on purpose I believe,' said Trump.

Trump entered the packed courtroom pursing his lips and wearing a navy suit and bright blue tie.

He sat at the defense bench with his lawyers. His attorney Todd Blanche has been benched again and is sitting on Trump's left.

Emil Bove, who was cross-examining David Pecker on Thursday, is to Trump’s right meaning he will continue the questioning.

They were known as the 'FOPs': the friends of Pecker. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Simon Cowell, Harvey Weinstein and, of course, Donald Trump were among the chosen few who avoided having lurid stories rained down on them courtesy of the National Enquirer.

They were the untouchables, who used their money, influence and flattery to get into former company CEO David Pecker's good graces – thus avoiding having their garbage surveyed, their lovers followed, and their peccadillos exposed.

But if you weren't a friend, then all bets were off. There was nothing – within the law and sometimes skirting it– that wouldn't be done to bring in a story.

'He's the biggest star f***er you've ever met,' a former staffer who worked at the tabloid for more than 20 years told DailyMail.com.

'He's a failed Donald Trump. He picks the wrong people and much like Trump, he's loyal to no one.'

Pecker and his close friendship with Trump has been back in the headlines this week thanks to the former publisher's scene-stealing appearance at the 45th President's ongoing hush money trial.

But while that friendship exposed the tabloid practice of 'catch and kill' – buying up a story only to keep it quiet for the benefit of a Pecker pal – insiders say that was just the tip of the iceberg.

'What's shameful is a lot of what we did was just good old-fashioned reporting but this stuff with Trump has smeared it,' another insider said.

Donald Trump's motorcade is on the way to court in Manhattan.

His press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared video footage of his SUV and police escort leaving his residence on Friday morning.

Attorneys for Donald Trump and special counsel Jack Smith made their cases before the Supreme Court on Thursday in the monumental case over whether a president has absolute immunity from prosecution.

There were many blockbuster moments throughout the three-hour hearing as the liberal justices fretted over the rise of Trump as a king if given total immunity.

Meanwhile, the conservative justices said they want to provide some legal safeguards to protect Trump and future presidents from political prosecution.

And there were no shortage of crazy hypotheticals raised about what could happen if a president staged a military coup or committed murder while in office.

The decision in the case will have a sweeping impact not just on the former president for presidential powers in the United States.

The arguments come as former President Donald Trump is facing criminal charges in four cases. He is the first former president ever to face criminal charges.

A decision is expected by the end of June before the Supreme Court recesses for the summer but they could move sooner.

DailyMail.com breaks down the major takeaways:

President Joe Biden told a glitzy fundraiser on Thursday night that he is too busy to watch Donald Trump's hush money trial.

Biden has kept his thoughts on the trial mostly to himself since it began.

But he has fired multiple jokes at his adversary and mocked his hair.

He also also had battles of his own, including with the teleprompter and struggling over the date of January 6.

One of the hundreds of construction workers who turned out to support Donald Trump in New York has captured the heart of the nation with his savage takedown of Joe Biden.

The unknown worker had been part of the crowds gathered as the former president made a visit to a construction site in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday morning.

Crowds of construction workers and supporters lined up through the night as they anxiously waited to catch a glimpse of their beloved former president in what is normally Liberal heartland.

He is now being hailed as a hero on social media.

'This is pretty much the sentiment of all blue collar hard working Americans. Really any American for that matter. Well said sir.'

Donald Trump returns to court on Friday for the hush money trial to watch his lawyers cross-examine former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.

During cross-examination before the court wrapped up for the day, Pecker ran through a series of high-profile arrangements he claimed he came to with celebrities and powerful men.

Pecker also claimed he helped bury stories about Mark Wahlberg and his wife having an argument and Rahm Emanuel having an affair after he left the Obama White House.

Pecker confirmed that he purchased the rights to photographs of Tiger Woods meeting a woman at a parking lot in Florida as part of another deal.

He agreed that they were used as ‘leverage’ to get Woods to appear on the cover of Men’s Fitness magazine.

It came out in court that Pecker also gave Trump the heads up about negative stories for years, and Pecker agreed.

Among the other high-powered men that Pecker did similar favors for was billionaire Ron Perelman, the owner of cosmetics giant Revlon.

Schwarzenegger got $50 million in addition to posts as editor at large of two AMI muscle-building magazines as part of a deal for AMI to buy them, the court heard.

Bove said that ‘30 or 40 women came to you and AMI’ when Schwarzenegger declared his candidacy. Pecker agreed.

‘Not that high. Hundreds of thousands of dollars,’ Pecker said.

Pecker confirmed that Schwarzenegger did not pay him back.