Former President Donald Trump has been banned from talking — or posting — about certain evidence uncovered in the Manhattan District Attorney’s “hush money” criminal case.

Justice Juan Merchan handed down the ruling Thursday during a Manhattan Supreme Court hearing after prosecutors sought a protective order to restrict Trump, 76, from publicly revealing any evidence handed over to his legal team as the case unfolds.

The judge — who insisted he was not imposing a “gag order” — said Trump was prohibited from talking about evidence specifically obtained by the DA’s Office and turned over to the defense to prepare for trial, including people’s names or personal information.

“I am not going to do anything … to infringe on his First Amendment rights,” the judge said.

Merchan said Trump is still free to talk about information that is already on the public record, as well as the vast majority of evidence tied to the case that has comes from the defense.

Given Trump’s history of attacks via social media, prosecutors had argued that Trump needed to be silenced to reduce the risk of harassment against witnesses involved in the case.

But Trump’s lawyers objected to the order, arguing the 45th president has a First Amendment right to tell his side of the story — especially given his bid for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election.

“Obviously, Mr Trump is different. It would be foolish to say he is not… He is different,” Merchan said Thursday.

“I have to apply the law. I have to apply the law to him as I see it, and in that regard, I am bending over backward and straining to allow him to advance his candidacy and speak in furtherance.”

The judge also asked Trump’s lawyers and prosecutors to see if they can agree on a trial date in February or March 2024, which would fall in the middle of election primary season.

Todd Blanche, one of Trump’s attorneys, told the judge they would be filing a motion later Thursday to move the state case to federal court.

The public hearing was the first since Trump was arraigned last month on 34 counts of falsifying business records for allegedly violating election laws as part of a “catch and kill” scheme to stop the spread of negative information about him during his 2016 presidential campaign.

As part of the scheme, prosecutors said Trump asked his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter. Trump then illegally reimbursed Cohen by falsely writing off the suppression payment as a “retainer agreement,” the indictment alleges.

Trump, who is the first ex-president in US history to be slapped with criminal charges, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He was absent from court Thursday after the judge previously waived his appearance.