Prosecutors in Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial argued in court Thursday that with a steady stream of social media posts, Mr. Trump had violated the gag order imposed on him seven times, urging the judge overseeing the trial to hold him in contempt.
But the judge, Juan M. Merchan, said he would wait to decide on the request until after a hearing he had already scheduled for Tuesday — about three other allegations that had already been raised by prosecutors.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Christopher Conroy, a prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office. “It has to stop.”
The gag order bars the former president from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, jurors and court staff, as well as their relatives and relatives of the judge.
Mr. Trump has continued to test its limits by sharing quotes and articles that are critical of his perceived enemies — a tactic that he has used for years to defend his statements while retaining plausible deniability.
His lawyers on Thursday sought to preserve his ability to do so during the trial, while Mr. Conroy laid out new examples of posts that prosecutors say broke the order, and risked inspiring violence against or harassment of people involved in the trial and those close to them.
For instance, the former president posted a link to a New York Post article that called Michael D. Cohen, his former longtime fixer and a key witness in the trial, a “serial perjurer,” and described the case as an “embarrassment for the New York legal system.”
The link was posted Monday on Mr. Trump’s campaign website, and again on Tuesday on both that site and his Truth Social platform.
Mr. Trump attacked Mr. Cohen again on Wednesday, prosecutors said, when he posted on Truth Social a link to a National Review article with the headline “No, Cohen’s Guilty Plea Does Not Prove Trump Committed Campaign-Finance Crimes.”
A lawyer for Mr. Trump, Emil Bove, told the judge that his client’s comments should be considered political speech, and that he was defending himself from attacks by Mr. Cohen.
The most serious violation happened late Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Conroy said, when Trump quoted a remark by the Fox News commentator Jesse Watters about the prospective jurors: “They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury.”
“This is the most disturbing post in light of what happened this morning,” Mr. Conroy said, referring to the dismissal of one juror who had already been seated after she expressed concern that she would be identified.
Earlier this week, prosecutors asked the judge to fine Mr. Trump $3,000 for violating the gag order three times — $1,000 for each violation.
The issue will not necessarily be decided on Tuesday. Though lawyers are expected to make their arguments at the hearing, it is not clear when the judge will issue a ruling.
