Former president planned a return to coincide with Michael Cohen’s testimony, which has been delayed until next week

Former president Donald Trump returned to a New York court on Tuesday to watch and deplore the civil fraud trial that threatens to disrupt his real estate businesses, but he got no face-to-face encounter – for now – with the star witness against him.

After attending the trial’s first three days earlier this month, Trump initially planned a return to coincide with testimony by Michael Cohen, his one-time attorney turned outspoken foe. But Cohen’s testimony was delayed until at least next week, with Cohen citing a health problem.

The second day of Trump’s trial got off to another combative start after Trump branded the case a ‘fraud’ and ‘scam’

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial issued a gag order on Tuesday after the former president made comments about the judge’s clerk.

“Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff,” the judge, Arthur Engoron, said on Tuesday afternoon. “Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them in any circumstances.

Ex-president rails against judge and prosecutors accusing him of years-long fraud they say inflated his wealth by as much as $2.2bn

Donald Trump attacked the judge and New York prosecutors who have charged him with orchestrating a years-long fraud on Monday as state prosecutors accused the former president of using the scam to inflate his wealth by as much as $2.2bn.

Trump arrived at a New York court just a few miles south of Trump Tower on Monday for the first day of a fraud trial that could see the former president and his family business paying hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and that has already threatened to end his business career in the city where it started.