NEW YORK: The New York judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial fined the former president on Tuesday for defying a gag order and warned that further violations could see him thrown in jail.

Judge Juan Merchan held the 77-year-old Trump in contempt of court for breaching an order that he not publicly attack witnesses, jurors or court staff and their relatives.

Merchan fined Trump $1,000 each for nine specific violations of the gag order, and instructed him to remove seven “offending posts” from his Truth Social account and two from a campaign website by Tuesday afternoon.

Lamenting that he could not impose a fine “more commensurate with the wealth of the contemnor,” the judge warned the former president that he could be sent to jail if he continues to violate the gag order.

Bank executive testifies in hush money trial; ex-president lays out ‘authoritarian’ plan if he is re-elected

“Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment,” Merchan said.

Hush money trial

Meanwhile, the hush money trial against him resumed on Tuesday, with a former executive of the bank used to make a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels taking the stand.

Trump is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 funneled to Daniels just days ahead of the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton.

Gary Farro, a former senior managing director of the now defunct First Republic Bank, is expected to give further testimony.

The case, heard by 12 jurors and six alternates, is expected to last between six and eight weeks.

Time interview

Separately, in an interview with Time Magazine, Trump set out a stark vision for an authoritarian second term, talking about everything from possible mass deportations of migrants by the US military and detention camps to pregnancy monitoring to enforce abortion bans.

“I think the enemy from within, in many cases, is much more dangerous for our country than the outside enemies of China, Russia, and various others,” Trump said when asked if he would be willing to suspend parts of the US Constitution to deal with opponents.

On immigration, a potentially decisive issue in the 2024 election amid record numbers of people illegally crossing the southern US border with Mexico, Trump said he would have “no choice” but to launch mass deportations.

This would primarily involve the US National Guard “but if I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military,” Trump said.

“These aren’t civilians. These are people that aren’t legally in our country. This is an invasion,” he told Time magazine when the interviewer pointed out that US laws prevent the military from being used against civilians on US soil.

Trump said he “would not rule out anything” on setting up migrant detention camps but believed they would not be necessary because his deportation program would be successful.

On abortion, another hot-button election topic, Trump repeated his stance that he would leave the issue for the individual US states to decide whether to prosecute those who violate bans on the procedure.

Asked if states should monitor women’s pregnancies to see if they have had abortions in defiance of a ban, Trump replied: “I think they might do that.” He would not commit to vetoing any attempt to introduce a nationwide US abortion ban.

He also refused to rule out the possibility of unrest if he loses in November. “I think we’re going have a big victory and I think there will be no violence” — but when pushed, added that “if we don’t win, you know, it depends.”

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2024