Chief Justice Roberts warns against ‘hostility’ days after Trump tirade

Chief Justice John Roberts warned against personal criticism of federal judges on Tuesday, lamenting an increase in what he called “dangerous” and hostile rhetoric just days after President Donald Trump focused on the courts in a lengthy social media tirade.

In a public speech at an event hosted by Rice University in Houston, Roberts emphasized the difference between criticizing a court decision or legal analysis and personally attacking the judge behind it.

“It is important that our decisions are subject to review, and they are,” Roberts said. “The problem is that criticism can sometimes shift from focusing on legal analysis to personalities. And from all angles, you see that there’s no political point of view, it’s more on a personal side, and frankly that can actually be quite dangerous,” Roberts said.

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“Personally directed hostility is dangerous and must stop,” he said.

Roberts stopped mentioning Trump’s name. Still, the timing of his remarks is significant, coming two days after Trump attacked federal courts and Supreme Court justices in a series of fiery Truth Social posts on Sunday; This includes judges ruling last month to invalidate the far-reaching tariff regime.

“Our country has been needlessly ransacked by the Supreme Court of the United States, which has become little more than an armed and unjust Political Organization,” Trump shouted.

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US Supreme Court during rainstorm in Washington DC (Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“They are hurting our country and they will continue to do so,” Trump said of the Supreme Court, adding: “All I can do as president is call them out for their bad behavior!”

Roberts used his remarks Tuesday to throw cold water on the notion that justices do the political bidding of the presidents who appoint them, noting that it was then-President George W. Bush who nominated him to the high court 20 years ago.

“The idea that I was somehow carrying out his agenda is absurd,” Roberts said Tuesday.

“Of course, I will always be grateful [to] “I thank President Bush for appointing me, and I’m sure all my colleagues there are grateful,” he added.

“But I think the idea that I and they are pushing different agendas is really wrong.”

Tuesday’s incident is not the first time Roberts has used her position to call on Trump or other political figures to push back on rhetoric against judges or lower court judges at the district or appellate level.

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President Donald Trump shakes hands with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. (Getty Images)

Last March, Roberts issued a rare public statement condemning Trump’s call to remove a federal judge in D.C. who issued a temporary order to stop the president for 14 days from using an 18th-century wartime immigration law to quickly deport hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to a prison in Salvador.

Trump and his allies have repeatedly rebuked federal court judges who have blocked or stopped the president’s biggest executive orders from taking effect, branding them “activist” judges; But the statement raised concerns from outside court observers and former federal judges, who pointed to a broader increase in threats against federal judges.

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Roberts addressed that view in a statement Tuesday. “Judges across the country are working hard to fix this, and if they don’t, their opinions are subject to criticism,” Roberts added. “But personally directed hostility is dangerous and must end.”