Donald Trump trial LIVE: Judge fines Trump $9,000 for multiple gag order violations but says he can go to Barron’s graduation

Donald Trump has been found in contempt of court for violating the hush money trial gag order and fined $9,000.

Judge Juan Merchan also warned the former president he could face jail if he does it again in a stern warning to start the third week of the case.

There was some good news for the 77-year-old, as Judge Merchan ruled he could attend Barron’s high school graduation next month.

Trump was fined $1,000 each for a serious of social media posts that targeted witness Michael Cohen and questioned the bias of the jury.

Merchan has also ordered Trump remove the seven ‘offending posts’ from Truth Social and the two ‘offending posts’ from his campaign website by 2:15pm Tuesday.

Sports stars, news channel anchors from MSNBC and Fox News, media moguls and casino owners.

A Trump Organization contacts list of phone numbers introduced in court last week offers an unparalleled insight into how Donald Trump moves through the world, rubbing shoulders with the rich, the glamorous and the merely useful.

And the Fox News anchors like Brett Baier and Sean Hannity whose evening shows are where the former president likes to make news by telephoning in live.

Their boss, Rupert Murdoch, is in there too, alongside sporting icons such as tennis champion Serena Williams and golfing great Jack Nicklaus.

There are also more surprising reminders of Trump’s past as a New York liberal.

The prosecutor showed a wire transfer authorization form that former Trump fixer Michael Cohen filled out the morning after making a transfer into the new account.

The transfer amount was for $130,000 from the Essential Consultants to a trust account of lawyer Keith Davidson.

Davidson previously represented Stormy Daniels.

Farro notes that the opening of the account, funding of the account and transfer to Davidson all took less than 24 hours.

Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold is showing emails to and from former Trump fixer Michael Cohen confirming a bank transfer of $131,000 for his home equity line of credit into a checking account.

The transfer was made 23 minutes after Cohen opened the new Essential Consultants LLC account.

The emails shown to the jury about the transfer are labeled ‘high’ importance.

Farro is testifying about the paper trail in the hush money case. He says it was a second mortgage in this scenario.

He testified that bank paperwork would not indicate the account was used to pay someone in the adult film industry.

That would have required additional scrutiny.

Witness Gary Farro is a former senior managing director at First Republic Bank.

He is back on the stand to resume testifying after having first been called to the stand Friday.

Donald Trump will be able to go to his youngest son Barron’s high school graduation.

Judge Merchan said he does not think that May 17 is a problem.

Donald Trump slammed all the cases against him as hoaxes after entering the Manhattan criminal court and blasted the judge in the hush money case as conflicted.

‘This is a case that should never have been brought,’ Trump said with his lawyer by his side. The ex-president called it a ‘disgrace to the New York City court system.’

Trump also addressed the protests taking place on college campuses. He claimed the protests are all caused by President Biden and claimed the campuses are overrun.

‘Charlottesville is peanuts compared to what you’re looking at now,’ Trump said referencing the march by White supremacists. ‘This whole country is up in arms.’

He called protesters taking over a building a ‘big deal’ and questioned whether there will be anything ‘comparable to what happened to J6.’

The ex-president questioned whether those protesters will be given the ‘same kind of treatment as J6.’

Trump walked into court wearing a navy suit and a bright red tie.

His son Eric Trump was with him and sat in the front row of the public gallery.

Trump waved to somebody in the public gallery and pursed his lips together. 

Trump talked with Eric and waved to a woman sat next him.

After a week away from the trial, Donald Trump’s loyal communications aide has returned to the Manhattan court.

She was spotted by DailyMail.com getting into the former president’s motorcade alongside his son Eric, fellow aide Natalie Harp and senior advisor Dan Shapiro.

They then loaded into the SUVs to make the downtown trip from Trump Tower.

Donald Trump’s motorcade has arrived at the Manhattan criminal court.

Outside the courthouse, a group of pro-Trump protesters have gathered for week three of the hush money trial.

A friend of adult film star Stormy Daniels told CNN Daniels is ready for her appearance in the hush money trial and look Trump dead in the face and call him out.

‘Stormy is an incredible woman. She’s been steadfast through this entire process,’ said adult actress Alana Evans.

‘She’s been very solid, so honestly, I would imaging that she’s ready for this. We have all been waiting for some sort of justice to come out of this situation,’ she added.

Evans told CNN’s Abby Phillips that Daniels has been honest since day one as soon as she was allowed to speak out and will be a strong witness on the stand.

‘I think what’s going to be going through Stormy’s mind is this is the moment that she has to look him dead in the face and call it out for what it is and finally be able to put her voice to the truth in a way that we’ve all been waiting for.’

Donald Trump’s communications aide Margo Martin shared an image of the former president doing an interview with a local TV station in Michigan before heading to court.

‘No one works harder,’ she wrote alongside the photo on X.

Donald Trump departed Trump Tower to head to the Manhattan criminal court for his hush money trial.

It is day five of testimony in the case.

Trump waved to cameras but did not speak to reporters as he walked to his motorcade.

Gary Farro says he was assigned to work with Michael Cohen based on his ‘ability to handle individuals that may be a little challenging.’

He says he didn’t find him that difficult, but when he did call, it was always something ‘urgent.’

Farro says he worked with Cohen from 2015 through 2018 or 2019, and Cohen held personal accounts and entities with First Republic Bank.

Farro testifies that Cohen ‘was very excited’ to be working for Trump and spoke about it frequently.

Farro says he didn’t open any accounts for the Trump Organization.

Gary Farro was a senior managing director at First Republic Bank in 2016.

Michael Cohen allegedly wired hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, aka Stephanie Clifford, using the bank.

Someone at the bank reported the wire transaction as suspicious to the Treasury Department.

On October 26, 2016, an employee of the bank whose name is publicly redacted confirmed to Cohen his wire to Daniels’ lawyer was successful.

First Republic Bank was seized and sold by regulators last year.

President Joe Biden used his speech to a crowd of 2,600 at the Washington Hilton on Saturday to jab his rival.

The 81-year-old has been out campaigning while Trump has sat in a courtroom in Manhattan.

The president had a laugh at the case where his likely 2024 opponent is accused of paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair.

Biden said: ‘I’ve had a great stretch since the State of the Union. Donald has had a tough few days lately — you might call it stormy weather.’

Donald Trump’s longtime assistant told his hush money on Friday trial she recalled seeing porn star Stormy Daniels in the lobby on the 26th floor of Trump Tower before the 2016 election.

Rhona Graff, 64, who worked for Trump for 34 years until 2021, said she assumed Daniels was there to discuss being a contestant on The Apprentice.

Graff also confirmed she had entered contact details in the Trump Organization system for Daniels and Karen McDougal.

Daniels and McDougal, a former Playboy model, have both claimed they had affairs with Trump, which he has denied.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to buy the silence of Daniels.

Donald Trump returns to Manhattan for the third week of the hush money trial.

The former president will be sat in the courtroom while prosecutors carry on questioning Michael Cohen’s former banker Gary Farro.

He testified on Friday that he helped Trump’s disgraced former fixer open accounts, including the one used to pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000.

Trump is also facing a fine of up to $10,000 for contempt of court for violating the gag order in the case.

Judge Juan Merchan has scolded his social media activity and could rule as soon as Tuesday.