Trump’s hush money trial enters its final stage. The Independent answers your questions

Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial is approaching its final phase, with the 12-person jury soon set to determine the former president’s fate.

This trial has brought a parade of intriguing figures to New York, both inside and out of the courtroom — from the trial witnesses such as porn star Stormy Daniels and Mr Trump’s former “fixer” Michael Cohen to surprise visits from MAGA loyalists, including Colorado Rep Lauren Boebert and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The Independent has been covering the historic trial live from the courthouse each day.

Ahead of closing arguments, senior reporter Alex Woodward and general news reporter Ariana Baio held a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” forum to answer your questions about the case:

Q: Can you describe your day-to-day experience while covering the trial? What are things like outside the courthouse, especially the crowd’s reaction to members of the press?

Alex: It’s a long day! There’s no guarantee that we can get in an overflow courtroom so we start lining up around 5am on days where we know there will be a lot of press trying to get inside – like when Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen were on the stand.

We hang in line across the street from the courthouse and drink coffee for a few hours before court officers hand out slips of paper that act as our sort of permission slip to come back in. And then we’re inside all day with a brief break for lunch.

We can bring our laptops and phones into the room, so we’re able to do all the updates, but there’s sometimes a mad dash to charge everything if the day goes long (and it does). The anti-Trump crowds hassle the network camera crews that are set up across from the court, but nothing wild.

Q: Do you think his cronies are actually