Then-President Trump returns to the White House with first lady Melania Trump and their son Baron after a weekend in Bedminster on Aug. 16, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
It is unclear if trial proceedings will pause on May 17 or if the president will simply be absent from the courtroom that day, which falls on a Friday.
Barron Trump attends a private high school near Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in south Florida.
Former President Trump, center left, watches with his attorney Todd Blanche, center right, as prosecutor Matthew Colangelo makes opening statements during Trump's criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, April 22, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)
On Tuesday, Merchan ordered Trump to pay $9,000 in fines for violating a gag order that bans him from speaking publicly about witnesses and family members of court officials. The judge found he violated the order on nine separate occasions, with each violation resulting in a $1,000 fine.
The judge detailed in the order that if Trump carries out "continued willful violations" of the gag order, he could face "incarceratory punishment" if "necessary and appropriate."
Former President Trump, right, attends the funeral of mother-in-law Amalija Knavs alongside his wife Melania, son Barron, and father-in-law Viktor Knavs, left, at the Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. Knavs passed away at the age of 78 in Miami on Jan. 9, 2024. (Alon Skuy for Fox News Digital)
"This is a hoax. This is a judge who is conflicted. Badly, badly, badly conflicted. I've never seen a judge so conflicted and giving us virtually no rulings," Trump said outside the courtroom.
"I'm going to sit in the freezing cold icebox for 8 hours, 9 hours or so. They took me off the campaign trail. But the good news is my poll numbers are the highest it's ever been. So at least we're getting the word out. And everybody knows this trial is a scam. It's a scam. The judge should be recused, that he should recuse himself today he should recuse himself today. And maybe he will," Trump said.
Trump has previously slammed Merchan, including railing against him on Truth Social last month, when he called on the judge to recuse himself and cited Merchan’s daughter and her work as a political consultant for Democratic politicians.
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"Judge Juan Merchan, who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whose daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals, has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial) has now issued another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional ‘order,’ as he continues to try and take away my Rights," Trump posted on Truth Social last month after he was given a gag order limiting what he could publicly say about the case.
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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