Judge Juan Merchan, presiding over the first criminal trial involving a sitting or former president in U.S. history, ordered Donald Trump in contempt of court Monday for a 10th time over gag order violations at his hush money trial.
Merchan, who already fined Trump $9,000 for nine violations, said it appears fines aren't a sufficient deterrent, and that should there be a next time, he will have to consider putting him in jail.
"Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction," Merchan says. "It's important to understand the last thing I want to do is to put you in jail, you are the former president of the United States and could be the next president of the United States. The magnitude of such a decision is not lost on me. At the end of the day, I have a job to do."
Merchan went on to accuse Trump of "continued willful" ignorance of the order and said he would not allow it to continue. If jail becomes necessary and appropriate, Merchan said he'll take that action.
Trump had been barred ahead of the trial from attacking witnesses and others associated with the case. Prosecutors claimed he dismissed the gag order outright and was attacking people in Truth Social posts with no consequence. They submitted four potential violations this time around. Merchan agreed with them on the third one.
He previously agreed with prosecutors on nine of 10 possible violations. The Truth Social posts found in violation of the gag order had to be removed in addition to the fines paid. Prosecutors had not sought jail time.
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Trump has repeatedly condemned the court proceedings and called Merchan a conflicted judge. He denies the charges.
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Merchan previously already denied a defense motion to recuse himself from the case.
