As the defense tries to keep prosecutors guessing about whether former President Donald Trump will take the witness stand to defend himself in his criminal trial in New York, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has instructed the parties to prepare for the upcoming week assuming the testimony may not happen.

“Please be prepared to begin summations on Tuesday,” the judge told attorneys last Friday.

On Friday, prosecutors confirmed they would call no more witnesses. Ex-lawyer Michael Cohen will return to the witness exam to wrap up questioning by defense and prosecuting attorneys, and defense lawyers said in court Friday they plan to call a handful of rebuttal witnesses, including experts, whose limited testimonies may be wrapped up within a day.

“I was not speaking to President Trump, obviously. That’s another decision that we need to think through,” defense attorney Todd Blanche added.

But President Trump has not confirmed he will testify.

Before the start of trial, President Trump had said in multiple public statements that he was willing to testify in any of his criminal trials because he had done nothing wrong. He said the same in responding to a reporter near the start of his criminal trial in New York.

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