Trump pays $9,000 gag order fine in two installments

Donald Trump has paid a $9,000 fine assessed to him by Judge Juan Merchan for violating a gag order in his criminal hush-money trial.

The violations stem from attacks Trump made on Truth Social towards witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, as well as jurors, which the judge ordered he delete, warning that he may need to turn to jail time in further incidents.

A Manhattan court clerk told The Daily Beast that Trump had made two separate payments, one for $2,000 and one for $7,000, to meet the fine, which Judge Merchan noted was the maximum the law enabled.

“It would be preferable if the Court could impose a fine more commensurate with the wealth of the contemnor,” Merchan said in an April ruling, adding that he “must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment.”

It’s unclear why Trump made the payment in two chunks. He boasts majority ownership in the Trump Media group, which is valued at over $6.5 billion dollars, and previously used fundraising dollars to pay legal bills. 

In a second gag order hearing Thursday, prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office laid out a case demonstrating four further violations, though Merchan is yet to rule in this matter.

Trump was quick to pay the 4-figure sum, though he’s taking another payment — a $454 million civil judgment from years of fraud — to the state’s highest court on appeal.