Trump calls federal gag order in DC trial ‘so unconstitutional’ and says he will appeal

Former President Donald Trump blasted a limited gag order a federal judge issued against him Monday in the Washington, D.C., criminal election interference case.

Trump claimed the gag order was “so unconstitutional” and that his team would appeal the order during a campaign event in Adel, Iowa, Monday afternoon and just mere hours after his campaign spokesperson called the order “an absolute abomination.”

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR RISKS UPENDING TRADE AND COMMODITIES SHIPPING

“Today a judge put on a gag order. I’ll be the only politician in history that runs with a gag order where I’m not allowed to criticize people. Can you imagine this?” Trump said. “Do you believe this? I’m not allowed to criticize people, so we’ll see. We’ll appeal it and we’ll see but it’s so unconstitutional.”

Trump again compared himself to the infamous American gangster Al Capone before bragging about his increasing support in the wake of four criminal cases and the 91 indictments he faces.

“He was only indicted one time. I’ve been indicted four times,” Trump said, comparing himself to Capone. “And in addition, I have the civil trials that are all coming out of the Justice Department. They’ve weaponized the Justice Department and the FBI … This is like a banana republic but we’re going to be okay. … The good news is, I’m the only one that’s ever been indicted with the numbers went through the roof.”

In most national and state polls, Trump leads all other rivals oftentimes by nearly 40 to 60 percentage points. A RealClearPolitics poll shows Trump at 58.3%, while Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), his top rival, polls at 12.9%. No other candidates poll in the double digits. Trump took a moment earlier in his speech to also slam DeSantis as “DeSanctimonious” and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley as “birdbrain.”

According to the gag order by Judge Tanya Chutkan, the former president cannot make statements publicly targeting prosecutors, including special counsel Jack Smith, court staff, or their families, or about witnesses and their testimony.

But that didn’t stop Trump from claiming the Department of Justice has a “weaponized” criminal justice system while barnstorming Iowa. And it didn’t stop him from attacking other politicians on the receiving end of his ire, chief among them President Joe Biden.

Trump repeatedly slammed Biden’s handling of the conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas claiming the fighting wouldn’t have happened if he was president. He also once again slammed Biden’s prisoner exchange deal with Iran in which $6 billion was released to Tehran. However, in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks and Israel’s retaliatory airstrike, the U.S. and Qatari governments reportedly agreed not to release the funds.

“So the $6 billion is a lot. But the $6 billion is sort of easy to say because it’s so easy to understand, but the oil thing is far worse,” Trump said. “They still have the sanctions on but they don’t enforce them … sanctions are worthless if you don’t have a leader that’s going to enforce it.”

Treasure Secretary Janet Yellen claimed last week that sanctions against Iran are a possibility. “We have not in any way relaxed our sanctions on Iranian oil,” Yellen said at a news conference during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Marrakesh, Morocco.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Trump also warned of a possible World War III after claiming the attacks against Israel could lead to attacks against the United States from young men entering the nation through the southern border, saying, “There are a lot of strong young men, and they’re coming in and I say be prepared.”

“The one thing that we really have to be careful of is World War Three because we’re right on the cusp of World War Three,” Trump continued. “We’re so close.”

Kaelan Deese contributed to this story.