Trump is fined and threatened with jail after violating gag order

Donald Trump violated a court-imposed gag order, according to the presiding judge in one of Trump’s many cases on Friday. He was fined $5,000 and threatened with potential jail time in the event of a future violation.

Trump is before Judge Arthur Engoran in the $250 million civil fraud trial against him and his business empire.

The gag order in question had been imposed on Trump earlier this month after he made a disparaging post about Judge Engoran’s clerk, Allison Greenfield, on Truth Social. Though Trump later told the judge the post had been deleted, it remained on his official website until as recently as Thursday.

Only after the court emailed Trump’s attorneys was the post deleted.

A furious Engoran demanded answers from Trump’s attorneys, threatening the Republican frontrunner with contempt of court and jail time. The attorneys, in turn, assured the judge that it had been an oversight by the “very large machine” of Trump’s presidential campaign.

In turn, Engoran declared that Trump is “still responsible” for the actions—and mistakes—of his campaign in the eyes of the court.

Ultimately, he slapped Trump with a $5,000 fine and sternly warned that future violations “will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include [...] possibly imprisoning him.”

Though many may understandably see this development as yet another example of the justice system treating Trump with kid gloves, Judge Engoran’s actions and words are indeed a step in the right direction of treating Donald Trump no differently than any other defendant.

And given Trump’s seeming inability to comply with a court order, we may very well see him behind bars yet.