The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial has fined him $1,000 and warned of jail time for future gag order violations.

Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York.

Hope Hicks, who served as Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign press secretary, has taken the witness stand in his New York hush money case.

Former longtime Donald Trump adviser Hope Hicks testified about how his 2016 presidential campaign became embroiled in a political firestorm over a tape in which he boasted about grabbing women sexually without their permission.

Donald Trump’s former spokesperson Hope Hicks met with New York prosecutors investigating hush-money payments made on the ex-president’s behalf.

The House Jan. 6 committee is interviewing Hope Hicks, a longtime aide to former President Donald Trump.

Republicans hoping to emerge from crowded primaries this year have spent tens of thousands of dollars hiring operatives with ties to former President Donald Trump.

Former President Donald Trump is holding off on making a new endorsement in Pennsylvania’s closely watched Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

The president on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020 confirmed in a tweet that Giuliani had tested positive for the virus. On numerous occasions, Giuliani met with officials for hours at a time without wearing a mask, including hearings last week with state lawmakers in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan. Giuliani spoke for hours last week before a Republican-led committee in Lansing investigating alleged election irregularities. Giuliani traveled last Monday to Phoenix, where he met with Republican legislators for an hourslong hearing in which he was maskless. The Arizona Republican Party tweeted a photo of Giuliani and several state GOP lawmakers standing shoulder-to-shoulder and maskless.

WASHINGTON – A Pentagon official installed in a top policy job last week has tested positive for COVID-19, the Pentagon said Thursday, just days after he met with the Lithuanian defense minister, who had contracted the virus. Jonathan Hoffman, the chief Pentagon spokesperson, said Anthony Tata, who is serving as the undersecretary of defense, was tested Thursday after learning that Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis had tested positive. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows tested positive after attending an election night party at the White House. Others who were at the party also tested positive, including White House political director Brian Jack, former White House aide Healy Baumgardner and Trump campaign advisers David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski. The assistant commandant of the Marine Corps later also tested positive, and all the chiefs were forced to quarantine at home for at least 10 days.

The White House won’t say when Trump last met with the task force. National and battleground public opinion polls suggest that Trump faces stiff headwinds in his bid for a second term. Trump’s interest in engaging with Fauci and other top medical officials on the coronavirus task force waned long ago. White House spokesman Judd Deere refused to answer the question of when Trump last attended a White House coronavirus task force meeting. Troye, the former task force aide, said Trump was showing “complete disregard for the truth, science, and facts” in the hopes of boosting his re-election chances.

Bidens presidential campaign says Harris will suspend in-person events until Oct. 19, after two people associated with the campaign tested positive for coronavirus. According to Biden’s campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign learned late Wednesday that two people associated with the operation had tested positive for the coronavirus. And as Trump returns to aggressive campaign travel before massive, often unmasked crowds, the Biden campaign reinforced its commitment to following public health guidelines. As Biden’s campaign conducted contact tracing and made public disclosures, Trump traveled to North Carolina — where Harris was supposed to be on Thursday — for another rally. The White House has not notified reporters, Secret Service agents or Trump campaign staffers who may have been exposed during the outbreak.

White House director of communications Alyssa Farah waves after speaking with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020, in Washington. “Yeah, I’m not going to give you a detailed readout with timestamps every time the president’s tested," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters last weekend. And the White House refusal to answer makes it hard not to wonder what they're hiding, given other details they've shared. Senior White House staff and those who are in direct contact with the president are tested for the virus daily. What about Sept. 27, when he visited his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, held a late afternoon news conference in the White House briefing room, and held an evening reception for Gold Star families on the White House state floor?

Still, the doctors said Trump’s health is improving and that he could be discharged as early as Monday. In a short video released by the White House on Sunday, Trump insisted he understood the gravity of the moment. He was evasive about the timing of Trump oxygen drops. At the time of the briefing, Trump’s blood oxygen level was 98% — within normal rage, Trump’s medical team said. First lady Melania Trump has remained at the White House as she recovers from her own bout with the virus.

And yesterday with the team, while we were all here, he was not on oxygen,” Conley said. Meadows himself had insisted Friday morning that Trump had only “mild symptoms" as the White House tried to project an image of normalcy. “President Trump remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms and has been working throughout the day,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said late in the day on Friday. The first word that a close aide to Trump had been infected came from the media, not the White House. At the same time, the White House has been working to trace a flurry of new infections of close Trump aides and allies.

Crowds of people gathered shoulder to shoulder on the White House South Lawn. Instead, he flouted his own government’s guidelines and helped create a false sense of invulnerability in the White House, an approach that has now failed him as it did a nation where more than 200,000 people have died. And their use, while technically required, wasn’t enforced in the White House either. Even in the hours after the president’s diagnosis, senior White House staff, including chief of staff Mark Meadows and economic adviser Larry Kudlow, walked around the White House complex without wearing masks. The White House, even now, says the face coverings are a matter of “personal choice” for most staffers.

Chris Christie, seen in an AP photo with his arm around another guest while chatting up several face to face, announced his positive virus test this weekend. Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, who attended the debate and helped him prepare with Christie, has tested positive for COVID-19. White House officials said they began learning of Hicks’ positive test after Trump boarded Marine One to start his journey to New Jersey. Despite the abject failure to keep the president protected from the virus, White House officials defended their current protocols as well thought out. And masks still won't be required on the White House grounds for all West Wing employees.

Then, just as quickly, they receded into memory with the revelation Friday that Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta called it “a bit unsettling.”Meanwhile, the White House Correspondents Association said three journalists there tested positive for COVID on Friday. All had covered White House events last weekend. Then, at 12:54 a.m. Eastern, the president tweeted that both of them were positive. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows was asked pointedly why he was not wearing a mask when he briefed reporters Friday afternoon.

Also testing positive: Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien. “President Trump remains in good spirts, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day,” said press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Very early Friday, after returning from the Thursday afternoon New Jersey fundraiser, Trump stunningly tweeted, "Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Friday confirmed that the White House knew Hope Hicks, the aide, had tested positive before Trump attended the fundraiser. Officials with the White House Medical Unit were tracing the president's contacts.

Stocks are pulling lower Friday, as Wall Street's first reaction to President Donald Trump's testing positive for the coronavirus was to retrench. By the end of the day, it had trimmed its loss to 1%, down 32.38 points at 3,348.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung from a loss of 433 points to a gain of 44 points through the day. Stock futures and Treasury yields tumbled after Trump tweeted overnight that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. The White House also said Trump had been injected with an experimental antibody drug combination for the virus made by Regeneron.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President Donald Trump testing positive for the coronavirus and being hospitalized (all times EDT):12:10 a.m.President Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Conway attended the Rose Garden announcement Saturday where President Donald Trump announced his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. He issued the statement as President Donald Trump was being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the same illness. ___6 p.m.Joe Biden’s campaign is taking down its attack ads in the wake of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus infection. ___11:55 a.m.First lady Melania Trump says she is experiencing “mild symptoms” after she and President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

The White House physician said the president is expected to continue carrying out his duties “without disruption” while recovering. Hours before Trump announced he had contracted the virus, the White House said a top aide who had traveled with him during the week had tested positive. But Trump has consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable, even after White House staff and allies were exposed and sickened. Pence's aides had no immediate comment on whether the vice president had been tested or in contact with Trump. Anyone in close proximity to the president or vice president is also tested every day, including reporters.

President Donald Trump listens to Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden during the first presidential debate Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)

(AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)WASHINGTON – The Latest on the 2020 presidential election (all times local):10:50 p.m.President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden are painting a very different picture of the reliability of the upcoming election. ___10:20 p.m.President Donald Trump has sidestepped a question from moderator Chris Wallace about whether he was willing to condemn white supremacists and militia groups. Biden made the comment during Tuesday night’s debate after President Donald Trump accused him of supporting abolishing private insurance. ___2:15 p.m.Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, have released more of their personal tax returns ahead of the first presidential debate. ___12:30 p.m.President Donald Trump spent Tuesday morning in informal preparations for the first debate with Joe Biden.

NEW YORK As anyone who has ever heard him speak knows, President Donald Trump loves to relive 2016. Our latest staff additions are making Team Trump even stronger and solidify Brads leadership.In the last week, the Trump campaign hired Jason Miller, communications director in 2016, to focus on strategy and coordinate between the campaign and the White House. And some of Trumps 2016 team never left: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the presidents daughter and son-in-law, are senior advisers. Kellyanne Conway, the presidents final 2016 campaign manager, remains a senior White House counselor. That includes Bannon, who remains supportive of Trump after a messy exit from the White House, and Keith Schiller, Trumps longtime security man.

(CNN) - Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has joined Fox News as a contributor, the network announced on Thursday. Sanders, who exited the White House in June, will make her debut before a live studio audience episode of "Fox & Friends" on Sept. 6. Hope Hicks, the former White House communications director, joined Fox Corporation in 2018 as executive vice president and chief communications officer. And in July, Raj Shah, the former White House deputy press secretary, joined Fox Corporation as a senior vice president. Bill Shine, the former co-president of Fox News, joined the White House in 2018 in a top communications role.