Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan went on to reportedly warn Trump, who appeared via a video call, that he could be sanctioned if he violated an order restricting him from making public any evidence related to the case.
Insiders claimed the former commander-in-chief appeared upset about the trial's start date; however, it was unclear just how he felt about the situation as his microphone was muted. It was reported that Trump was seen making remarks to his lawyer at the time.
The mystery as to how Trump felt about his 20-minute court appearance was squashed not long after the court session as he opted to debrief supporters via social media, claiming the schedule was an example of election interference.
Trump explained the start date falls in the middle of the presidential primaries season, a period in time that determines who will become each political party's nominee for the next presidential election.
"Just had New York County Supreme Court hearing where I believe my First Amendment Rights,' Freedom of Speech,' have been violated, and they forced upon us a trial date of March 25th, right in the middle of Primary season," Trump said in a statement.
"Very unfair, but this is exactly what the Radical Left Democrats wanted. It’s called ELECTION INTERFERENCE, and nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before."
The criminal trial is in connection to the April charges filed against Trump over alleged hush payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the lead up to the 2016 US election, which saw Trump take the winning White House ticket.
Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree as prosecutors have alleged Trump reimbursed his former fixer Michael Cohen with checks later written off by the Trump organization as a repayment for his legal services. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which prosecutors elevated from misdemeanors to felonies, alleging the fraud was linked to violations of election and tax laws.