Just hours after a New York judge expanded a gag order to stop Donald Trump from making nasty attacks against his daughter, the ex-president posted a clip to Truth Social on Tuesday in which the Fox News commentator Brian Kilmeade slammed her.
Loren Merchan, who runs a political consulting firm that has worked with Democrats, has become the focal point of Trump’s attacks against her dad, Judge Juan Merchan, as part of a long-shot attempt to have him ousted as the judge presiding over his hush-money criminal case in New York.
Tuesday’s clip features attorney Jonathan Turley speaking with Kilmeade and other presenters on Fox & Friends. The two criticized Judge Merchan’s ruling Monday night that expanded Trump’s gag order, which had previously barred him only from attacking court staff, prosecutors, and witnesses. Now Trump is also forbidden from publicly attacking the families of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Judge Merchan.
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Donald Trump pinned the post to the top of his Truth Social profile.
Truth SocialKilmeade took exception to that gag order expansion, calling it “outrageous” despite Trump having spent more than a week going on unhinged rants that included disproven rumors about Loren Merchan, who is not involved in the trial.
“Also, the fact is, the judge’s daughter is an activist who works for Kamala Harris? And there was some some dispute on whether she did have a picture up on a website with Donald Trump behind bars,” Kilmeade said. “That, to me, is something that if I’m Donald Trump, I’m concerned about that. The judge has a daughter who feels this way.”
Kilmeade’s reference to Loren Merchan posting a photo of Trump behind bars was said to be untrue by her representatives last week. Instead, they said the post in question—that’s become a conspiracy in right-wing circles—came from an X account that she had not used in years and no longer had access to.
Turley agreed that the gag order has become too expansive, adding that he’s against gag orders in nearly all cases. However, he said he thinks Trump needs to cool it with the personal attacks.
“I would prefer that Trump leave these attacks or issues raised with the judge’s family to his counsel,” he said. “I think that’s always the better approach.”
It’s unclear if resharing the clip is in violation of the gag order, as Trump didn’t attack Judge Merchan’s family with his own words. However, it does underscore Trump’s determination to go after Merchan at any opportunity—even using creative methods. As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, Trump still had the clip pinned to the top of his Truth Social profile.
Last week, Trump said Judge Merchan is “totally compromised” because of his daughter’s work for Democrats. He initially described Loren Merchan only as being the judge’s daughter, but took his rhetoric up a notch by Thursday to name her in a post.
“Judge Juan Merchan is totally compromised, and should be removed from this TRUMP Non-Case immediately,” he posted Thursday afternoon. “His Daughter, Loren, is a Rabid Trump Hater, who has admitted to having conversations with her father about me, and yet he gagged me.”
In a caption to Tuesday’s post, Trump made no mention of Loren Merchan directly. Instead, he highlighted Turley’s comments saying the reputation of the New York legal system is at stake—but included more than just those comments in the six-minute clip.
Later on Tuesday, The American College of Trial Lawyers, a prominent nonpartisan industry organization, spoke out against Trump’s attacks on the judges, writing in a statement that such attacks are “dangerous” and threaten society’s bedrock rule of law, which he claims to promote.
“The American College of Trial Lawyers, acting through its Board of Regents and Executive Committee, condemns the recent vitriolic statements made by former President Donald Trump attacking the character, integrity and sanity of the judges and prosecutors handling the cases against him, with accusations that they are ‘sick,’ ‘deranged,’ ‘evil,’ ‘corrupt,’ and ‘crooked,’” the organization wrote. “Attacks like these are dangerous because they risk provoking violence against judges, prosecutors, and their families. They also undermine the public’s trust in the rule of law, and threaten the independence of the judiciary because they are intimidating.”
Prior to Monday’s gag expansion, Judge Merchan said in court that he was “bending over backwards and straining” to make sure that Trump had the freedom to speak his mind about his trial. The judge said he was forced to change course because Trump couldn’t keep his comments civil.
Judge Merchan is presiding over Trump’s hush money trial, where he faces a 34-count indictment that’s charged him with falsifying business records. Those charges stem from a $130,000 payment he’s accused of directing his ex-fixer Michael Cohen to make to to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case and continues to claim he never had sex with Daniels.
