The judge overseeing the federal criminal case charging Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election has imposed a partial gag order muzzling some of what the former president can say about his upcoming trial.
Special Counsel Jack Smith asked for Mr Trump to be placed under a gag order because of his “continued use of social media as a weapon of intimidation in court proceedings”.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan agreed with some of what prosecutors argued, ruling that Mr Trump and others in the case are not to make, post or share statements targeting Mr Smith, the court, court staff, and witnesses in the case.
The former president also can’t refer to Mr Smith as a “thug” or “deranged”.
This comes as Mr Trump has made a series of controversial comments on other matters this week.
In a pre-taped video posted on Truth Social on Saturday, the former president bizarrely claimed that Republicans “eat their young” and there was significant backlash to remarks about the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s campaign fundraising is being dwarfed by President Joe Biden’s, raising $46m in the past three months, with $38m cash-on-hand to Mr Biden’s $71m in the same time period.