An appellate court has denied former President Trump's bid to have Judge Juan Merchan recused from his hush money trial.

Trump's application sought a stay of the proceedings and Merchan's recusal.

Both were denied without explanation by the appellate judge.

All nine of former President Trump's social media posts cited by Judge Juan Merchan in his contempt of court ruling this morning have been removed.

The judge ruled that the nine posts violated the limited gag order prohibiting Trump from targeting potential witnesses and others involved in the case.

The nine posts were deleted during the court's lunch break.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass resumed his direct examination of Karen McDougal's former attorney Keith Davidson regarding his text messages with National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard as the two were negotiating how much the publication would pay McDougal for the exclusive rights to her story alleging she'd had an affair with Donald Trump.

“I can't believe they are asking me to go back for another 25 but they are. He deal is accepted at 150k. Can u do that?” Davidson wrote on August 2, 2016.

“He just called me. F--- it. Not my money. I'll ask,” Howard responded.

Davidson told the jury that Enquirer parent AMI initially provided a contract that did not match the terms originally discussed with Howard.

“Cameron's agreement wasn't really even close to what we were expecting. Please review the red-line I just sent. Need to handle this quickly,” Davidson wrote to Howard on Aug. 5, 2016.

Davidson testified that he initially avoided interacting with Michael Cohen while negotiating the deal with AMI due to a negative interaction he had with Cohen in 2011.

“My interaction with him was not pleasant or constructive and I didn’t particularly like dealing with him, and that is why I was trying like hell to avoid talking to him,” Davidson testified regarding Cohen.

Donald Trump reentered the courtroom after the lunch break, with his son Eric Trump following a few steps behind.

Trump campaign adviser Susie Wiles and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are seated, along with Eric Trump, in the first row of the gallery behind Trump's defense table.

Judge Merchan took his seat on the bench and asked for Keith Davidson to be brought back to the witness stand so his testimony could resume.

In the paper order explaining his ruling holding Trump in contempt for his violations of the case's limited gag order, Judge Merchan warned Trump that he could be locked up if he continues to willfully violate the order.

"Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment," Merchan wrote in his order.

Merchan wrote that Trump has until 2:15 p.m. ET today to remove posts violating the order from his social media account and campaign website. Trump has until close of business on Friday to submit the $9,000 penalty Merchan levied against him.

In his ruling, the judge also appeared to acknowledge the behavior of Michael Cohen, who has been targeting Trump on TikTok, and indicated that it could possibly lead to modifications of the gag order in the future.

Merchan said it is of the "utmost importance" that the limited gag order "not be used as a sword instead of a shield by potential witnesses," underscoring that the true purpose of the order is to "protect the integrity of these proceedings by shielding those fearful of reprisal by the Defendant so that they may take part in these proceedings without concern."

"However, if a protected party turns that underlying purpose on its head, it becomes apparent that the protected party likely does not need to be protected by the Expanded Order," the judge wrote.

Trump's team has argued that some of Trump's remarks were in response to attacks on him, including from Michael Cohen.