Closing arguments start Tuesday in the Manhattan hush-money trial of Donald J. Trump, signaling the final stages of the first criminal trial of an American president. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers will make their final cases for his guilt or innocence before jurors deliberate Mr. Trump’s fate.

In closing arguments, both sides will have more freedom than in opening statements as they work to persuade jurors of their interpretations of the facts that were presented at trial. While opening statements are restricted to evidence, the prosecution and the defense will use closing arguments to argue how and why the evidence, testimony and law support a specific verdict.

Closing arguments are expected to last for most or all of Tuesday and perhaps beyond. After closing arguments, the judge, Juan M. Merchan, will provide instructions to the 12 members of the jury that are meant to guide their deliberations. Lawyers on both sides tried to shape and, in some cases, limit the instructions during a conference with Justice Merchan last week.

From there, the case will be in the hands of the jurors, who will consider whether prosecutors proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Trump was guilty on all, some or none of the 34 felony counts with which he has been charged.

The charges stem from a $130,000 payment made by Mr. Trump’s former fixer and personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, in the days before the 2016 election to silence Stormy Daniels, a porn star who said she had sex with Mr. Trump a decade earlier. Prosecutors say Mr. Trump sought to cover up the sex scandal because he believed it would derail his campaign.

In 2017, after Mr. Trump had been elected and was in the White House, Mr. Cohen was reimbursed, and prosecutors have argued that Mr. Trump falsified business records to try to conceal the hush-money deal and the repayment.