The civil business fraud trial against former President Donald Trump is coming to a close, with closing arguments scheduled for early January. Over the course of 2½ months, 40 witnesses testified in the case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who accused Trump of inflating his wealth on financial statements to secure loans and make deals.

Despite being deemed liable for making fraudulent statements, other claims and a potential final penalty are still to be decided. Trump vehemently denies any wrongdoing and asserts that the financial documents actually understated his net worth, thereby shielding him from liability.

The trial has shed light on Trump's finances, his interactions with lenders, his aspirations to be an NFL owner, and the questionable math involved in the case. It has also offered a glimpse into Trump's political and legal strategies as his court and campaign calendars increasingly overlap, with his first criminal trial scheduled for March.

Remarkably, Trump attended the trial as a spectator on multiple occasions, using the opportunity to turn these appearances into de facto campaign stops. He consistently complained about being persecuted and portrayed the trial as unfair. During his testimony, Trump continued his defiant stance, declaring the trial to be corrupt and hoping that the public was witnessing the proceedings closely.

However, Trump's legal troubles have had minimal impact on his standing in the Republican presidential race for 2024. National and early-state polls continue to show him leading by a significant margin, with his lead even stronger than before his first criminal indictment last year.

Throughout the trial, much of the focus was on the hundreds of millions of dollars loaned to Trump's company by Deutsche Bank starting in 2011. The state contends that Trump manipulated his wealth to secure favorable loan terms, while the defendants argue that the loans were made based on unaudited financial statements that were merely estimates.

Experts engaged in a contentious debate over whether the adjustments made by Deutsche Bank demonstrated that they didn't rely on Trump's numbers, thus supporting the defense's argument, or whether the adjustments were insufficient to compensate for Trump's alleged inflation, bolstering the state's view.

The trial also revealed Trump's attempts to acquire the NFL's Buffalo Bills in 2014, with investment bankers indicating that he had little chance of receiving league approval due to his history with Atlantic City casinos and his involvement in a rival league's antitrust lawsuit against the NFL. Ultimately, the Buffalo Sabres' owners bought the team instead.

Another intriguing revelation stemmed from the valuation of Trump's penthouse in Trump Tower. Despite its actual size being around 10,996 square feet, Trump's financial statements from 2012 to 2016 listed the triplex penthouse at a staggering 30,000 square feet. Trump attributes this discrepancy to a mistake made by his staff and the inclusion of rooftop access.

The trial encompasses six claims, including conspiracy and insurance fraud, with James seeking penalties exceeding $300 million and a ban on Trump conducting business in New York.

Both sides have until January 5 to submit written arguments, and on January 11, four days before the Iowa caucuses, they will return to the courthouse for summations.

While Trump's legal team plans to appeal Judge Engoron's pretrial fraud ruling, they are also prepared to appeal in the event of an unfavorable outcome on the remaining issues.

As the trial draws to a close, the lingering question remains: What impact will these proceedings have on Trump's political aspirations and future? Only time will tell.

Associated Press writers John Wawrow in Buffalo, New York, and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.