The judge says he does not see a scheduling 'problem' with Trump attending his son's graduation
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The judge presiding over the NY v. Trump trial in Manhattan granted former President Trump permission on Tuesday to attend his son’s high school graduation in Florida next month.
"I don’t think the May 17 date is a problem," Judge Juan Merchan told the court Tuesday morning of Barron Trump's graduation date.
Trump had pushed for weeks to attend his son's high school graduation on May 17, but a decision on the matter was left in limbo until Tuesday, with Trump speculating earlier this month he would be denied leaving Manhattan for the event.
"(Barron’s) a great student and he’s very proud of the fact he did so well and was looking forward for years to having his graduation with his mother and father there, and it looks like the judge isn’t going to allow me to escape this scam. It’s a scam trial," the former president said earlier this month when the trial kicked off.
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's son Barron, left, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner arrive to attend as Trump announces that he will once again run for U.S. president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election during an event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 15, 2022. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Trump is currently on day nine of his ongoing trial in Manhattan, where he is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The case has heard from three witnesses as of late Tuesday morning, including former American Media Inc. CEO and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, former executive assistant to Trump and a senior vice president of the Trump Organization Rhona Graff, and Gary Farro, who served as senior managing director at First Republic Bank in 2016.
JUDGE FINES TRUMP THOUSANDS OVER VIOLATING GAG ORDER, WARNS 'INCARCERATORY PUNISHMENT' COULD BE NEXT
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 speaks to the media as he leaves court during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 22, 2024 in New York City. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first of his criminal cases to go to trial. (Brendan McDermid-Pool/Getty Images)
In remarks ahead of court Tuesday morning, Trump called on Merchan to recuse himself, calling the case a "hoax" that is overseen by a "badly conflicted judge."
NY V TRUMP CRIMINAL TRIAL BEGINS ITS 3RD WEEK AS FORMER PRESIDENT ACCUSED OF GAG ORDER VIOLATIONS
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.
"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.
