Trump $175m bond lifeline branded an ‘absolute travesty’ as Truth Social hits Wall Street today: Live

Donald Trump’s experienced a day of mixed fortunes in the courtroom on Monday as the judge presiding over his hush money case in Manhattan ruled the trial could go ahead as planned with jury selection on 15 April while a New York appeals court granted him a major win on the day his $464m fraud bond had been due.

Mr Trump attended the pretrial hearing on the hush money case and said afterwards he would have “no problem testifying”, adding that he expects to become “more popular” if he is ultimately convicted because his supporters know the case against him is a “scam.”

Meanwhile, the Republican presidential candidate was unexpectedly handed a 10-day extension to pay $175m of the total fraud judgement against him as the deadline day for that payment dawned.

Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed that he is worth billions of dollars but that much of that value is tied up in the Trump Organization and his brand-building real estate holdings.

New York attorney general Letitia James responded by saying the defendant “is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud”.

On Tuesday, his Truth Social platform will begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange as a public company.

Donald Trump has lashed out at Judge Juan Merchan and his daughter on Truth Social.

Judge Merchan is presiding over the New York criminal hush-money case brought against the former president by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Here’s what Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform this morning:

Judge Juan Merchan, a very distinguished looking man, is nevertheless a true and certified Trump Hater who suffers from a very serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. In other words, he hates me! His daughter is a senior executive at a Super Liberal Democrat