WAUKESHA, Wisconsin-
Donald Trump will use a one-day break in his secret money trial on Wednesday to mobilize voters in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan, a day after he was arrested for contempt of court and threatened with prison for violating a silence order.
His statements will be closely watched after he was fined $9,000 for making public statements about people connected to the case. In imposing the fine for posts on Trump’s Truth Social account and campaign website, Judge Juan M. Merchán said that if Trump continued to violate his orders, he would “impose a punishment of imprisonment.”
The former president is trying to pull off a balancing act unprecedented in American history by running for a second term as the presumptive Republican nominee while also fighting felony charges in New York. Trump frequently attacks Merchan, prosecutors and potential witnesses at his rallies and on social media, lines of attack that play well with his supporters but have potentially put him in legal jeopardy.
Trump insists he is simply exercising his right to free speech, but the offensive posts from his Truth Social account and campaign website were removed. Merchan is weighing other alleged violations of the gag order by Trump and will hear arguments Thursday.
Trump appeared frustrated after the ninth day of the trial ended and said he should be in Georgia and New Hampshire instead of appearing in court.
“They don’t want me in the election campaign,” he told reporters.
Trump has often called this case and other criminal cases against him “election interference,” saying they prevent him from campaigning in November’s presidential election.
The gag order prohibited him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and others related to his hush money case.
Manhattan prosecutors have argued that Trump and his associates participated in an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential campaign by buying and then burying stories. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump’s visits to Wisconsin and Michigan mark his second trip to swing states in just a month. In recent rallies, the former president focused primarily on immigration, referring to people who are in the United States illegally and suspected of committing crimes as “animals.”
Wisconsin and Michigan are among a handful of battleground states expected to decide the 2024 elections.
For Trump to win both states, he must do well in suburban areas such as areas outside Milwaukee and Saginaw, Michigan, where he will hold rallies on Wednesday. He underperformed in suburban areas during this year’s primaries, even as he dominated the Republican field overall.
Trump has repeatedly falsely said the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump’s losses in key states in 2020 have withstood recounts, audits and reviews by the Justice Department and outside observers.
Gómez Licón reported from Miami and Price reported from Freeland, Michigan.