- The federal judge in Trump's election interference case reinstated a gag order against him on Monday.
- Another gag order was issued by the judge in Trump's New York civil fraud trial earlier this month.
Thanks to a couple of gag orders against him, there's a bunch of people Donald Trump can't insult anymore — unless he wants to risk violating court orders again.
Tanya Chutkan, the federal judge overseeing Trump's election interference case in Washington DC, issued a gag order on October 16 after Trump raged against Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and his team. She then temporarily lifted the order several days later while she considered if it was a violation of Trump's rights, as his team had argued, according to the AP.
But, Chutkan reinstated the order on Monday after Trump dragged Mark Meadows — his former chief of staff and a likely witness in the case — on social media, insinuating that he was a "weakling" and a "coward," the AP reported.
And earlier this month, Justice Arthur Engoron issued another gag order in Trump's New York civil fraud trial when Trump singled out one of Engoron's clerks online — one that the former president later violated.
In total, the pair of gag orders bar Trump from insulting or disparaging the following people in public — whether that's in speeches on the campaign trail or in posts on social media:
- Members of Judge Chutkan's court staff in the DC election interference case
- Prosecutors, including Special Prosecutor Smith, in the Washington DC case
- Witnesses in the Washington DC case
- Any member of Justice Engoron's team in the New York fraud case
However, Chutkan's order does not ban Trump from criticizing the city of Washington, DC, the people who live there, the Justice Department, or the judge herself.
It also included a specific carve-out to let Trump keep attacking his political rivals, specifically citing former Vice President Mike Pence — who may be called as a witness in the case.
At a campaign rally soon after Chutkan's initial gag order, Trump attacked her, calling her ruling "unconstitutional" and saying "her whole life is not liking me." When Chutkan reinstated the order after temporarily lifting it, Trump again wrote on Truth that the order "illegally and unconstitutionally takes away" his First Amendment rights.
Engoron's order also doesn't prevent Trump from attacking NY Attorney General Letitia James.
But Trump has already received several penalties for violating Justice Engoron's gag order against him — a $10,000 fine imposed last week, on top of a $5,000 fine imposed days earlier.
With the former president's penchant for posting lengthy attacks against his rivals on social media, Trump will need to reign things in or risk facing consequences in court.