Donald Trump risked further censure from the judge in his New York fraud case after calling him a “nut job” for ruling that the former president’s daughter Ivanka must testify.
Members of the Trump family are expected to give evidence this week, beginning with Donald Trump Jr on Wednesday and then his brother Eric.
Ivanka, 41, must also testify after Judge Arthur Engoron agreed with the prosecution that she may have information relevant to the trial.
Trump, 77, has called the case, which was brought by the New York attorney-general, a politically motivated witch-hunt. He and his property company, The Trump Organisation, as well as his sons, are accused of vastly overinflating the value of assets to obtain larger loans secured against them.
Trump, who was fined $10,000 last week by the judge for violating a gagging order designed to stop him using social media to attack court staff, has unleashed more insults at “unhinged” Engoron in a furious response to his ruling on Ivanka.
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“I truly believe he is CRAZY, but certainly, at a minimum, CRAZED in his hatred of me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.
“This case should have never started, but now must be dismissed.”
Trump said the judge was “out of control”, a “nut job” and “grossly incompetent”.
He added: “This is a Biden Election Interference Scam! There were No Crimes & No Victims, and there is NO JURY ALLOWED. This Radical Trump Hater Must Be Taken Off This Case!”
Trump is expected to testify after his children.
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Last week Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, gave evidence against his old boss. Cohen, who was executive vice-president of the Trump Organisation, testified that under Trump’s orders he had falsely raised the value of the company’s assets by billions of dollars. Trump, who denies the claims, called Cohen, the case’s star witness, “a rat” and a “serial liar”.
Despite his many legal woes Trump maintains a commanding lead in the run-up to the Republican presidential primaries, raising the prospect of a repeat of the 2020 election next year.
His dominance over the field was reasserted on Saturday when Mike Pence, his former vice-president, dropped out of the race.
Pence had struggled to lift his underwhelming poll numbers but used his final speech as a candidate to take a dig at Trump, without naming him.
“I urge all my fellow Republicans here: give our country a Republican standard-bearer that will, as Lincoln said, appeal to the better angels of our nature,” he said at an event in Las Vegas, “and not only lead us to victory, but lead our nation with civility.”
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Trump appeared on stage at the same event shortly afterwards but did not respond to Pence’s announcement.
During a later speech, however, he called on Pence to endorse him.
“Because I had a great successful presidency, and he was the vice-president, he should endorse me,” he said.
“I chose him, made him vice-president. But ... people in politics can be very disloyal.”
Pence, a 64-year-old evangelical Christian, was a trusted Trump lieutenant for years but their relationship ended after Pence refused to interfere with the 2020 election results.
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Trump was also criticised on Saturday by Nikki Haley, who was his US ambassador to the UN.
Haley, who is also running for president, suggested Trump could not win in 2024.
“Eight years ago, it was good to have a leader who broke things. But right now, we need a leader who also knows how to put things back together,” she said.
