Justice Juan Merchan ended the charging conference after three hours of arguments from both sides.

Attorneys spent the afternoon debating the language that will be used to instruct the jurors before they begin deliberations.

Merchan said he would try to have the set of jury instructions finalized by Thursday.

With that, court appears to be on a break through Memorial Day weekend. The jury will be back Tuesday to hear closing arguments.

Donald Trump echoed his statement from last week about Jewish voters potentially backing Joe Biden and the Democrats as he left court late Tuesday afternoon.

"Jewish people that go for Biden and the Democrats should have their heads examined," the former president said.

Trump made a similar remark last week – while specifically mentioning Alan Dershowitz – during his customary post-court statement as he read off a series of printed-out news clippings about his "hush money" trial.

As he read aloud one of the clippings that referenced Juan Merchan, Trump ripped the man presiding over the trial.

"Merchan loathes me," he said. "The judge hates Donald Trump. Just take a look, take a look at him. Take a look where he comes from."

Trump spoke several hours after the jury was sent home for the remainder of the week as closing arguments are set to begin next Tuesday.

The case went on without any testimony from Trump himself as the defense rested its case.

Prosecutors and Donald Trump's attorneys are inside Justice Juan Merchan's courtroom to work on jury instructions.

Known as a charge conference, this hearing is to design instructions on the law that will be read by the judge to the jury as it begins deliberations, which is slated for next Wednesday.

It's expected that closing arguments for both sides will start Tuesday.

Trump is seated next to his attorneys Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles.

"I feel very good. I think we've had a great case we've put on," Donald Trump said in the hallway before re-entering the courtroom this afternoon.

Ex-Donald Trump fixer Michael Cohen was spotted taking an afternoon stroll in Manhattan after the defense rested in his former boss's "hush money" trial.

Cohen, wearing a blue long-sleeve button-down shirt cuffed at the wrists, had a glazed look in his eye as he walked past two women while gripping his cellphone.

Cohen admitted yesterday he stole $60,000 from the Trump Organization.

Jurors have been sent home for the week, but lawyers from both sides will be back at 2:15 p.m. for a charging conference.

That means they'll be hashing out the instructions the jury will receive before it starts deliberating.

Justice Juan Merchan has said he expects deliberations could start as early as Wednesday, following closing arguments on Tuesday after the Memorial Day holiday.

Jurors will now have a week off before closing statements, which have been scheduled for next Tuesday.

Between now and then, the court will work on finalizing the instructions jurors will hear before deliberating, and take a couple of days off for the Memorial Day holiday.

Donald Trump will not testify at his hush money criminal trial after all.

The defense "rested" just now after Bob Costello stepped down from the stand, meaning that the ex-president will not testify.

The decision comes a day after Trump's personal lawyer Alina Habba claimed to news cameras that Trump "wanted" to testify.

Under redirect from Trump attorney Emil Bove, Robert Costello testified that Rudy Giuliani was the first to use the word "backchannel" — a word that's been used to describe a flow of communication to Trump.

"Rudy Giuliani, in response to my telling him we couldn’t make this public because that’s what Michael Cohen said to me," Costello said.

Manhattan prosecutors asked Costello earlier if he was pushing Cohen to retain his services because it could keep a steady line of communication with Trump. Costello denied that.

Robert Costello said he had no animosity toward Michael Cohen, and wasn't trying to intimidate him when he testified before a House committee last week.

Asked by Manhattan prosecutor Susan Hoffinger whether he has animosity toward Cohen, Costello said: "I don't have animosity. I don't think Michael Cohen is telling the truth."

Hoffinger shot back, asking Costello to answer "yes or no?"

"No," Costello said.

He later brushed off another question from Hoffinger when she asked if he was trying to "intimidate Michael Cohen" when he slammed Cohen and the prosecution in testimony to Congress last week.

"That's ridiculous, no," Costello said.

During a slew of emails shown on cross-examination, Robert Costello maintained that his "obligation" was solely to Michael Cohen — despite ripping him as "totally nuts" and an "a--hole" in an email he sent to his partner.

Costello was shown an email from June 22, 2018, to Jeffrey Citron, a partner at his firm, to which the attorney attached a text message response from Cohen that day before ripping into Donald Trump's fixer.

“Finished document review and then met with counsel. Arrived home at 8:30 and just took wife to get dinner," the text from Cohen read in the email.

Costello then wrote in the body of the email: "Tune into CNN and see how they are playing this up. Cohen has to know this yet he continues to slow play us and the President - is he totally nuts???"

“I am in a golf tournament tomorrow early and again on Sunday. What should I say to this a--hole? He is playing with the most powerful man on the planet."

When Manhattan prosecutor Susan Hoffinger observed that the "email certainly speaks for itself," Costello responded, "Yes, it does."

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is taking aim at Bob Costello's credibility under cross-examination.

Costello denied telling Michael Cohen in 2018 that he would set up a "backchannel" between him and then-President Donald Trump.

But jurors saw an email in which Costello mentioned setting up such a "backchannel."

"The email speaks for itself, does it not?" Hoffinger said.

Costello responded "No," and claimed that he would be "delighted" to provide more "circumstances" if allowed to speak further.

"That's all right, let’s move on," Hoffinger quipped, drawing some chuckles in the courthouse gallery.