Secret Service Ready If Trump's Jailed Over Gag Order, Doubt It'll Happen

Donald Trump may go to jail in his hush money case -- but even before that, he may get locked up over a gag order ... something the Secret Service is ready for, but not anticipating.

As you may know, Trump is currently on trial in New York City ... where prosecutors are trying to convince a jury he broke the law by allegedly coordinating payments to Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet ahead of the 2016 election ... something for which he's pled not guilty.

While he's technically facing a maximum sentence of up to 4 years in prison if convicted -- no one really expects that to happen, especially for a first-time offender like Trump.

However, a much more likely scenario in the interim is the possibility of DT being held in contempt for violating a gag order that's been handed down by the judge in this case ... which prosecutors have argued Trump already did and should be punished for right now.

While they're just asking a judge to impose fines for what they claim are examples of Trump violating the gag order -- via posts of his on Truth Social, etc. -- they are also saying Trump should be jailed there in the courthouse if he continues ... and if that happens, Secret Service is, in fact, prepared to do what they're legally obligated to do, which is keep him protected at all times.

Federal sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... while the likelihood of Trump being thrown in whatever courthouse pokey they have in the back is slim, we're told the agency would continue to protect and serve him at all costs, even if he was technically behind bars.

Our sources say, realistically, Trump would be separated completely from other inmates being held at the same facility -- and in that scenario ... Secret Service would be right there on standby. In other words, there's absolutely no chance Trump would be truly exposed.

We're told that if Trump were to be held in contempt and jailed, it'd probably be very brief and temporary -- something we're told the Secret Service doesn't think would be difficult to manage if push came to shove.

Now, on the prospect of Trump being imprisoned for much longer if he's convicted ... our sources say the Secret Service has yet to truly get together and discuss that possibility -- but again, considering it's highly unlikely ... we're told they're not overly concerned about it.

With that said, we're told the agency would congregate and put together a solid, long-term game plan if that's ultimately the sentence that Trump receives ... and the same thinking would apply, 24/7 protection, no matter what ... and no matter what environment.