Donald Trump fined $14,000 and threatened with jail

Relations between Donald Trump and Judge Juan Merchan overseeing his hush money trial reached a new low after the latter threatened the former president with jail over social media posts.

Donald Trump gestures as he walks back to the courtroom after a break in his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump has been fined $US9000 ($14,000) and warned he could be sent to prison if he keeps flouting court orders to cease public disparagement of witnesses and jurors in his hush money trial in Manhattan, adding to the roughly half a billion in fines he already owes New York courts.

The putative Republican presidential nominee attended the third week of his criminal trial into whether he paid off adult film star Stormy Daniels with US$130,000 in order to buy her silence and hide what could have been an embarrassing transgression from voters before the 2016 election – a violation of campaign finance law.

The judge acknowledged that the relatively paltry fine of $US9000 might not deter a billionaire, and therefore a jail sentence might be deemed appropriate.

“[The] Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued wilful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment,” the presiding Judge Juan Merchan wrote in an eight-page ruling.

Mr Trump, 77, has frequently fumed online and at his press conferences about his allegedly unfair treatment by the New York legal system, the Biden administration in particular and Democrats in general.

“This Judge has taken away my Constitutional Right to FREE SPEECH. I am the only Presidential Candidate in History to be GAGGED,” he appeared to have posted while in court.

His legal team tried unsuccessfully to have the hush money case, the first of what could be four criminal trials facing the former president this year, thrown out or at least shifted to a part of New York where Republicans would make up more than the 10 per cent they do in Manhattan.

“This Court is keenly aware of, and protective of, Defendant’s First Amendment rights, particularly given his candidacy for the office of President of the United States,” Judge Merchan added in his note, arguing the court had narrowed the restrictions on speech as much as possible to ensure a fair trial.

Mr Trump had earlier found a loophole in the court’s exhortations in order to call out Judge Merchan’s daughter, a Democratic-party aligned activist, who, according to Mr Trump, suggested her father might be biased against him.

Within hours Mr Trump had taken down the nine offending social media posts, which included numerous “reposts” or others’ opinions, from his Truth Social account in compliance with the order.

“Throwing a MAGA into a post doesn’t make it political, it may make it more ominous,” prosecutor Christopher Conroy argued before the court. Prosecutors say they have already found more examples.

In the third week of a case that’s now expected to finish sooner than the original suggested six weeks, jurors are expected to hear from Mr Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who has already faced jail time for making the hush money payment on Mr Trump’s behalf.

Mr Trump was last year charged by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, with 34 counts of falsifying business records in to a hush-money payment to a porn star who claimed to have had a sexual encounter with him.

Making the payment via his then lawyer Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s business classified the payments as ‘legal expenses’, whereas prosecutors say they weren’t, pointing to campaign finance laws that would have classed the payment as a reportable campaign expense.

Separately, the former president’s political critics erupted with faux sympathy for Donald Trump’s youngest son Barron on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) after Judge Merchan also said could attend the 18 year old’s university graduation ceremony on 17th May, saying the court would not be sitting.

“Poor Barron” began trending on X as observers realised Mr Trump would have to attend his youngest’s graduation in Florida. Mr Trump had repeatedly slammed the judge’s alleged lack of compassion for initially refusing to allow him to go.

In separate civil judgments related to business fraud and sexual assault allegations, Mr Trump has been fined around $US500 million, pending appeals.

The trial began amid a noticeable improvement in Joe Biden’s prospects for re-election in November, according to an average of odds provided by eight political betting markets.

According to those tracked by RealClear Politics, Joe Biden has edged out the former president as favourite to win in November for the first time since September.

Mr Trump’s four indictments, all handed down last, for a mix of alleged federal and state crimes related to election interference and handling of classified documents, appeared to supercharge the Republican’s popularity with voters, all but cementing his position as the GOP nominee pending the party’s July convention.