The judge, Justice Arthur Engoron, is presiding over state Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million lawsuit accusing the former U.S. president, his company and three of his adult children of over-valuing assets and Trump's net worth through a decade of lies to banks and insurers.

Last month, James asked the Manhattan-based judge to appoint a watchdog to halt "staggering" fraud at the company and keep the Trumps from transferring assets out of her reach.

Citing the "persistent misrepresentations" throughout Trump's statements of financial condition from 2011 to 2021, Engoron called appointing a monitor "the most prudent and narrowly tailored mechanism to ensure there is no further fraud or illegality" that violates the state law James is trying to enforce.