(The Washington Post)—President Donald Trump lashed out Thursday night at the conservative legal movement and one of its prominent leaders, Leonard Leo, blaming them for the federal court ruling that blocked most of his tariffs this week.
In a lengthy social media post, Trump called Leo a “real ‘sleazebag’” and suggested that the Federalist Society led him astray on judicial nominations during his first term.
One of the judges involved in the ruling on tariffs was nominated by Trump. And in recent months, Trump and Leo have been at odds over the wisdom of Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs: A group with ties to Leo is among those that have sued the administration, arguing that the president overstepped his authority in issuing them.
“I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations,” Trump wrote. “This is something that cannot be forgotten!”
The New York-based U.S. Court of International Trade deemed Trump’s tariffs illegal in a Wednesday ruling that drew intense criticism from the administration. A top Trump adviser called it “judicial tyranny.”
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the tariffs could continue for now.
While Trump celebrated the latest ruling, he questioned where the judges in the previous ruling had “come from” and whether they had a “hatred” of Trump. The decision was handed down by a panel of three judges — one of whom, Timothy Reif, was nominated by Trump in 2018.
The Federalist Society had a major role in Trump’s first term, helping influence his judicial nominations — including to the Supreme Court — and assuaging traditional conservatives’ concerns about Trump. Leo, the former vice president of the group, remains a co-chair of its board.
Yet Trump’s relationship with the conservative legal establishment has frayed in the years since his first term, and he has spent the opening months of his second term railing against judges who have blocked his agenda. That has put him at odds with some of the judges he selected during his first term on a range of issues, including his migrant deportation efforts.
At the same time, Trump’s aggressive and sweeping use of tariffs has clashed with some conservative legal theories about executive power.
The ruling by the International Court of Trade came in response to a pair of lawsuits, one of which was brought by the Liberty Justice Center, a nonpartisan group in Austin, on behalf of five small businesses. The center is libertarian-leaning and has been funded by some of Trump’s top campaign supporters.
Trump, in his Thursday post, appeared to cement his fracture with the conservative legal establishment. He said he listened to the Federalist Society when he “was new to Washington.”
“I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real ‘sleazebag’ named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions,” Trump said.
Asked for comment on Trump’s criticism, Leo wrote in an email that he was “very grateful for President Trump transforming the Federal Courts, and it was a privilege being involved.”
“There’s more work to be done, for sure, but the Federal Judiciary is better than it’s ever been in modern history, and that will be President Trump’s most important legacy,” Leo said.
Trump’s spat with Leo is not the only recent example of Trump distancing himself from a pillar of the legal community. Attorney General Pam Bondi told the American Bar Association on Thursday that the Justice Department would scale back the group’s role in vetting judicial nominees, saying it “no longer functions as a fair arbiter.”
Trump’s fissures with Leo and the Federalist Society have been on display as he has turned to more pugilistic legal voices to advise him on judicial nominations. Last year, Leo clashed with Mike Davis, a fierce Trump ally on legal affairs, over whether certain conservative Supreme Court justices should retire during Trump’s second term.
Trump only recently started announcing the first judicial nominations of his second term. In a sign of his desire for more loyalty from judges compared to his first term, he picked one of his former personal lawyers, Emil Bove, on Wednesday to be a federal appellate judge.
Leo is close friends with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a relationship that has drawn scrutiny in recent years. Leo stepped down as vice president of the Federalist Society in 2020 to focus on building his own network of conservative legal groups.
Author: Patrick Svitek