New York, 27 March

Donald Trump lashed out on Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order ahead of his 15 April hush-money criminal trial, suggesting without evidence that the veteran jurist was kowtowing to his daughter's interests as a Democratic political consultant.

The former president objected in particular to what he said was her specious social media photo showing him behind bars. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, posted on social media that the gag order issued on Tuesday was “illegal, un-American, unConstitutional".

He said Judge Juan M Merchan was “wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponisation of Law Enforcement” by Democratic rivals and urged him to step aside from the case.

The gag order, which was requested by the prosecution, bars Trump from either making or directing other people to make public statements on his behalf about jurors and potential witnesses in the hush-money trial, such as his lawyer turned nemesis Michael Cohen and porn star Stormy Daniels. It also prohibits any statements meant to interfere with or harass the court's staff, prosecution team or their families.

It does not bar comments about Merchan or his family, nor does it prohibit criticism of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the elected Democrat whose office is prosecuting Trump.

Merchan's daughter, whose firm has worked on campaigns for President Joe Biden and other Democrats, “makes money by working to Get Trump'” and recently posted a fake photo on social media depicting her “obvious goal” of seeing him behind bars, Trump said. He argued those circumstances make it “completely impossible for me to get a fair trial”.

Trump did not link to the purported photo, but an account appearing to belong to Loren Merchan on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed a photo illustration of an imprisoned Trump as its profile picture Wednesday morning. It was later changed. Loren Merchan's consulting firm had linked to that same account in a previous social media post.

“So, let me get this straight,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “the Judge's daughter is allowed to post pictures of her dream' of putting me in jail ... but I am not allowed to talk about the attacks against me, and the Lunatics trying to destroy my life and prevent me from winning the 2024 Presidential Election, which I am dominating?”

“Maybe the Judge is such a hater because his daughter makes money by working to Get Trump' and when he rules against me over and over again, he is making her company, and her, richer and richer,” Trump continued. “How can this be allowed?”