Trump, 77, attacks DAUGHTER of judge in the Stormy Daniels trial: Ex-president says Juan Merchan 'hates me' and claims he treated 'elderly' Allen Weisselberg, 76, 'viciously'

Donald Trump once again railed at the man overseeing the Stormy Daniels trial a day after Judge Juan Merchan set an April trial date despite a push by Trump's lawyers to dismiss the case.

Trump was inside a Manhattan courtroom with Merchan on Monday as lawyers argued about the start of his first criminal trial, now set for April 15. On Tuesday, he launched multiple online attacks on judges and prosecutors, even while calling Merchan a 'distinguished looking man.'

He targeted Merchan's daughter and bemoaned the treatment of former Trump Organization exec Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty this month to lying under oath without agreeing to cooperate. It comes after his repeated attacks in his separate New York fraud trial prompted Judge Arthur Engoron to impose a 'gag' order prohibiting him from attacking his chief clerk.

'Judge Juan Merchan, a very distinguished looking man, is nevertheless a true and certified Trump Hater who suffers from a very serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,' Trump wrote. 

Former President Donald Trump  attacked the judge overseeing the Stormy Daniels case, while also going after his daughter

'In other words, he hates me! His daughter is a senior executive at a Super Liberal Democrat firm that works for Adam “Shifty” Schiff, the Democrat National Committee, (Dem)Senate Majority PAC, and even Crooked Joe Biden,' Trump wrote. 

Trump's lawyers last year tried to force Merchan off the case by citing his daughter's work for Authentic Campaigns, a digital advocacy firm, but were denied.

Then Trump went after Merchan for his role overseeing the Weisselberg case. (He also oversaw former Trump campaing chair Steve Bannon's criminal fraud case).

Merchan showed some of his tough side when Weisselberg was sentenced, telling him that if he hadn't already pledged a five-month sentence he would have gone for something 'much greater.'

Trump railed against Judge Juan Merchan, while calling him 'distinguished looking'

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Trump, 77, complained about the case without saying directly he was referencing the longtime Trump exec first brought on by his father, Fred Trump, calling the 76-year-old Weisselberg 'elderly and not in good health.'

'He was recently the judge on an unrelated trial of a long term employee, elderly and not in good health. This judge treated him viciously, telling him either you cooperate or I’m putting you in jail for 15 years. He pled, and went to jail for very minor offenses, highly unusual, served 4 months in Rikers, and now they are after him again, this time for allegedly lying (doesn’t look like a lie to me!), and they threatened him again with 15 years if he doesn’t say something bad about “TRUMP.” He is devastated and scared! These COUNTRY DESTROYING SCOUNDRELS & THUGS HAVE NO CASE AGAINST ME. WITCH HUNT!'

Trump was in Merchan's courtroom as his team sought to dismiss or delay the trial over charges of falsifying business records relating to the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump. They said they needed more time after prosecutors released more than 100,000 pages of evidence. 

But Merchan rejected the plea after a tense hearing where he sparred with Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche.

Prosecutors 'went so far above and beyond what they were required to do that really it's odd that we're even here taking this time,' the judge said.

Merchan last year considered Trump's motion to have him recuse from the case, addressing the arguments about his daughter, including the claim that she 'stands to financially benefit' from decisions of the court.

'Defendant has failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds. The speculative and hypothetical scenarios offered by defendant fall well short of the legal standard,' Merchan wrote.