Trump Granted Permission to Attend Son's Graduation Despite Ongoing Trial

Former President Trump has been given permission to attend his son Barron's high school graduation in Florida despite facing ongoing criminal charges in Manhattan. Judge Juan Merchan granted the request, dismissing concerns about potential disruptions to the trial proceedings. The decision comes after Trump had repeatedly expressed his desire to be present at his son's graduation, which is scheduled for May 17.

Former President Donald Trump has been granted permission by a Manhattan judge to attend his son Barron's high school graduation in Florida next month, despite facing ongoing criminal charges in the city.

Judge Juan Merchan granted the request on Tuesday, saying he did not believe the May 17 date posed a problem. Trump had been pushing for weeks to attend his son's graduation, but a decision on the matter had been left in limbo until Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Trump had speculated that he would be denied permission to leave Manhattan for the event, calling the trial a "scam."

"I don't think the May 17 date is a problem," Merchan said Tuesday morning.

It remains unclear if trial proceedings will be paused on May 17 or if Trump will simply be absent from the courtroom that day, which falls on a Friday.

Trump is currently on day nine of his ongoing trial in Manhattan, where he faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The case has heard from three witnesses as of late Tuesday morning, including former American Media Inc. CEO and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, former executive assistant to Trump and a senior vice president of the Trump Organization Rhona Graff, and Gary Farro, who served as senior managing director at First Republic Bank in 2016.

On Tuesday, Merchan ordered Trump to pay $9,000 in fines for violating a gag order that bans him from speaking publicly about witnesses and family members of court officials. The judge found he violated the order on nine separate occasions, with each violation resulting in a $1,000 fine.

Merchan detailed in the order that if Trump carries out "continued willful violations" of the gag order, he could face "incarceratory punishment" if "necessary and appropriate."

In remarks ahead of court Tuesday morning, Trump called on Merchan to recuse himself, calling the case a "hoax" that is overseen by a "badly conflicted judge."

"This is a hoax. This is a judge who is conflicted. Badly, badly, badly conflicted. I've never seen a judge so conflicted and giving us virtually no rulings," Trump said outside the courtroom.

Trump has previously slammed Merchan, including railing against him on Truth Social last month, when he called on the judge to recuse himself and cited Merchan's daughter and her work as a political consultant for Democratic politicians.

"Judge Juan Merchan, who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whose daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals, has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial) has now issued another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional ‘order,’ as he continues to try and take away my Rights," Trump posted on Truth Social last month after he was given a gag order limiting what he could publicly say about the case.

Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman contributed to this report.