We have the written order from Justice Merchan and the language is pretty strong on the jail threat - stronger even than the last order where he also brought up possible incarceration.

"Defendant is hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration," he wrote.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

In addition to the threat of jail time, Trump must pay yet another $1,000 fine for violating the gag order by the end of the day on Friday. He was fined $9,000 for previous violations last week.

It’s a drop in the bucket for a former president who has already been fined hundreds of millions of dollars by the New York Attorney General’s Office for fraud.

Trump also has to take the offending social media post down by 14:15 EST today.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We've just learned from the defence who are next witness will be: former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney.

He testified in Trump's civil fraud trial as well.

McConney worked at the Trump Organization from 1987 until last year.

Trump’s facial expression has not changed much after a stern warning from Justice Merchan that he could go to jail for violating his gag order several times.

He is sitting at the defence table slightly hunched over, looking forward with a stern expression.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Justice Merchan has begun by issuing his most serious warning yet to Trump.

He warns that he will consider a jail sentence if Trump continues to violate the gag order.

It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent, Justice Merchan said.

“Therefore going forward this court will have to consider a jail sanction.”

"It is important that you understand that the last thing I want to do is put you in jail," the judge said.

He acknowledges that Trump is a former president of the United States - and may yet be president again.

Justice Merchan acknowledges that putting Trump in jail would be very disruptive to the proceedings.

But he calls the gag order violations "a direct attack on the rule of law" that he cannot abide.

"At the end of the day I have a job to do and that job is to protect the dignity of the judicial system," he said.

Justice Merchan told Trump he had found him in contempt for the 10th time.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump has just walked into the courtroom, wearing a red tie today.

He carries a stack of papers, which from a quick view may be be news articles, as he strides up to the defense table.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, EPA

We're now entering our third week of testimony in the first-ever criminal trial of a former president.

So far, the days have been packed. After selecting 12 impartial members to sit on a jury, the court heard testimony from a variety of witnesses called by the prosecution.

We've heard from David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, and Keith Davidson, the former lawyer of Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who alleges an affair with Trump.

Both testified about the "catch-and-kill" scheme they said Trump and his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen used to stop negative stories about Trump, including alleged affairs with women (Trump has denied them all).

Last week, we heard from our biggest witness yet, former Trump aide Hope Hicks, who tearfully testified about the behind-the-scenes handling of these negative articles.

We've still yet to hear from at least two big witnesses: Cohen and Daniels themselves.

Court will be starting shortly and pretty soon a new witness will be called to the stand. Stick with us to find out who that is.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Last week ended on a dramatic note, with Trump’s former top communications aide Hope Hicks taking the stand. She was the highest-profile witness yet.

Hicks began to cry after the prosecution finished questioning her, and left for several moments to compose herself.

Prosecutors had asked her if Trump had said anything regarding the news of the Stormy Daniels hush money breaking in the press.

“I think Mr Trump’s opinion was it was better to be dealing with it now, and that it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election,” Hicks said. A few moments later, she was in tears.

Trump’s attorney Emil Bove also solicited testimony from Hicks that Michael Cohen would often meddle in the campaign’s affairs. Hicks said Cohen liked to refer to himself as a fixer “and it was only because he first broke it”.

Hicks’ testimony likely gave each side a win.

Prosecutors secured evidence that Trump may have wanted to stop any negative stories from coming out before the election, and the former president’s defence team got more fodder to attack Cohen’s character and paint him as a rogue actor.

We'll see what this week brings.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

While we wait for court to start this morning, a reminder that we're anticipating a ruling from Justice Juan Merchan this week about Trump possibly violating his gag order.

The gag order bars him from making public comments about people related to the case, including witnesses, court staff and their family members.

He's already been fined $9,000 for nine social media posts - and received a stern warning that he could face jail time for more violations.

Prosecutors have asked for him to be fined once again for several additional posts, though they have not asked for jail time.

The gag order has been a frequent source of tension in court. Trump has continuously complained about the order in court and online, while prosecutors say it serves as a way to make sure witnesses, jurors and others don't feel intimidated.

Welcome to our live coverage of former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial in New York as the third week of testimony gets underway.

Reporting from court are Madeline Halpert, Kayla Epstein and Nada Tawfik, who will bring you all the latest.

Court today is expected to start with some housekeeping this morning, followed by the next witness.

It’s unclear who that witness will be - but we have still to hear from two star witnesses for the prosecution, Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen.