Donald Trump: Former US president found in contempt of court over social media posts amid jail warning

Mr Trump has to pay the fine by Friday and remove seven social media posts and two posts on his website

Former US president Donald Trump was held in contempt of court and warned he could be at risk of jail if he continues his behaviour after the judge ruled he had repeatedly violated a gag order by attacking witnesses and jurors on his social media accounts.

Judge Juan Merchan found Trump was guilty of nine violations of the order, which barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case – and fined him $9,000 (£7,100).

Trump, who has posted videos from outside the court room since his case began last week, which he has used in lieu of his appearance on the presidential campaign trail, has insisted he was exercising his free speech rights.

Former US president Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings at Manhattan criminal court in New York. Picture: Eduardo Munoz/Pool Photo via AP

Mr Merchan wrote Trump “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”.

Trump stared down at the table in front of him as the judge read the ruling, frowning slightly.

The former US leader is accused of falsifying internal business records as part of an alleged scheme to bury stories that he thought might hurt his presidential campaign in 2016.

At the heart of the allegations is a $130,000 [£103,808] payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with the ex-US president from surfacing in the final days of the race.

Former US President Donald Trump has been found to be in contempt of court.

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He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the trial – the first-ever criminal trial against a former US president. Since it began, the Republican politician has castigated the case on social media as “election interference” and a “witch hunt”.

Trump must pay the fine by the close of business on Friday, Mr Merchan said in a written ruling. He must also remove seven offending posts from his Truth Social account and two from his campaign website by 2:15pm on Tuesday, Mr Merchan said.

The judge is also weighing other alleged gag order violations by Trump and will hear arguments on Thursday.

Court was resuming on Tuesday with Gary Farro, a banker who helped Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen to open accounts, including one that Cohen used to buy the silence of Ms Daniels.

For his part, the former president and presumptive Republican nominee has been campaigning in his off-hours, but is required to be in court when it is in session, four days a week.

Outside the courtroom, Trump criticised prosecutors again. “This is a case that should have never been brought,” he said.

The trial is expected to last around six weeks, finishing in early June. The judge has made it clear he expects Trump to be present for the vast majority of the hearings, despite attempts by the Republican’s legal team for him to be excused for specific events.