Court warns Trump against intimidating jurors on Day 2 of  historic trial

The judge in Donald Trump's historic criminal trial has warned the Republican presidential hopeful against intimidating jurors as six panelists were chosen with unexpected speed following questioning by both sides.

Judge Juan Merchan cautioned Trump on Tuesday — the second day of his trial — at one point that his muttering was audible to one juror who faced scrutiny over social media posts.

"I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom," Merchan said, requesting the defence lawyers speak to Trump.

Trump, 77, has been ordered by Merchan to be in court daily, putting a major hitch in his campaigning plans.

No other US ex-president has faced a criminal trial and the pressure is high on both sides to get a dozen jurors able to sit in judgment of a former president running to return to the White House this November.

After a preliminary phase in which prospective jurors could opt out if they felt unable to be impartial or had extenuating circumstances, defence attorneys and prosecutors began detailed questioning of an initial panel of 12.

Six jurors had been accepted and sworn in by the end of Tuesday, and told they need not return to court until Monday, when the judge said opening statements would begin.

For Trump to be convicted of his alleged fraud in a scheme to cover up an embarrassing alleged extramarital encounter with an adult movie actress Stormy Daniels, the jury must render an unanimous verdict. Even one dissenting voice would see him walk free.

The process, which had been expected to take as long as two weeks, appeared to pick up pace on Tuesday, with six other jurors — and another six alternates — still to be selected.

Trump lashes out

Trump could not have made his feelings clearer: he would rather be anywhere else than in a New York courtroom on Tuesday.

"I should be right now in Pennsylvania and Florida — in many other states, North Carolina, Georgia — campaigning," Trump said in angry remarks outside the court Tuesday.

Dressed in a blue suit with a blue tie, the former president shifted between discomfort and anger, as he sat through the second day of the historic proceeding, the first criminal trial of a US president.

"This is a trial that should have never been brought," Trump told reporters outside the courtroom, as he lashed out against President Joe Biden, his Democratic rival in the November presidential election, and what he called the "Trump-hating judge" in the case.

"Every legal pundit and every legal scholar said this trial is a disgrace," he added.

After a brief exchange with his lawyers, Trump took a seat at the defence table and only seemed to lighten up when photographers were brought in to take photos of him before the trial.