Donald Trump’s legal team sought on Tuesday to dismantle the credibility of the star witness in the ex-president’s criminal trial, Michael Cohen.

Mr Trump showed no reaction as his lawyer, during cross-examination, cast Cohen as a man with a personal vendetta against his former boss.

Throughout the legal showdown weeks in the making, Cohen remained calm.

He also said he hoped Mr Trump would be found guilty of fraud in the hush-money case.

Cohen was on the stand for a second day of blockbuster testimony. He was called by prosecutors to testify about making a $130,000 (£104,300) hush-money payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, to prevent her from telling a story about an alleged sexual encounter with Mr Trump.

Mr Trump now faces 34 counts of business fraud for allegedly disguising reimbursements for the payment to Cohen as legal expenses. The former president pleaded not guilty to the charges and denies having sex with Ms Daniels.

At one point Mr Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche asked bluntly if Cohen wanted to see Mr Trump convicted in the case.

After being pressed, Cohen responded: “Sure.”

Over the course of two hours, Mr Blanche tried to undermine Cohen, who was imprisoned for tax evasion, fraud and campaign finance violations in relation to the payment. He brought up his guilty plea for lying to congress, and sought to portray Cohen as being motivated by hate and fame. He also sought to show that Cohen seeks to profit from the legal woes of a man he blasts daily in public,

Mr Blanche dredged up Cohen’s prolific social media posts, podcasts, and media appearances attacking his former boss, often in unprintable language.