Donald Trump has been hit with another gag order ahead of his hush-money criminal trial. Justice Juan Merchan granted the request from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg which prohibits the former president from talking about anyone involved in the case or their families.

       Mr Trump experienced a day of mixed fortunes in the courtroom on Monday when Judge Merchan 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 he expects to become “more popular” if he is ultimately convicted because his supporters know the case against him is a “scam.”

       In the fraud case, he was unexpectedly handed a 10-day extension to pay $175m of the total fraud judgment against him as the deadline for that payment dawned.

       Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed that he is worth billions of dollars but much of that is tied up in the Trump Organization and real estate.

       New York Attorney General Letitia James responded that the defendant “is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud”.