Trump Voices Concern Over Barrett’s Rulings But Reaffirms Support for Supreme Court’s Independence

President Donald Trump is reportedly expressing disappointment in some recent decisions by Supreme Court justices he nominated, particularly Justice Amy Coney Barrett, according to a report from CNN. The concerns stem from rulings that Trump and other conservatives believe stray from the originalist and constitutional principles the justices had vowed to uphold.

Sources say President Trump has, in private, questioned whether Barrett, along with Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, are consistently defending the conservative values they were expected to champion. Barrett, in particular, has come under scrutiny for votes that have aligned her with the court’s liberal bloc in several high-profile decisions.

Trump reportedly sees Barrett as “weak” and not reflective of how she presented herself during her nomination process in 2020. Despite this, Trump has not criticized Barrett or the other justices publicly, choosing instead to express his frustrations behind closed doors.

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields made it clear that Trump continues to respect the judiciary as a co-equal branch of government.

“President Trump will always stand with the U.S. Supreme Court, unlike the Democrat Party, which, if given the opportunity, would pack the court, ultimately undermining its integrity. The President may disagree with the Court and some of its rulings, but he will always respect its foundational role,” Fields said.

Conservatives were particularly dismayed when Barrett sided against Trump’s effort to pause $2 billion in foreign aid—an initiative supported by many on the right who favor a more America-first approach to international spending.

Barrett also joined with the Court’s liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts in ruling that Trump could be sentenced after his New York conviction, a case many conservatives see as politically motivated and emblematic of judicial overreach.

In another case, Barrett recused herself from a ruling on whether a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma was entitled to taxpayer funding. Her decision not to participate—due to a personal connection to the attorneys involved—left the Court deadlocked, effectively upholding a state-level decision declaring the school unconstitutional. The move disappointed many religious freedom advocates.

Despite these developments, sources say Trump continues to hold back from public criticism of his nominees out of respect for the Court as an institution.

“He does truly respect the Supreme Court, so he doesn’t want to torch any of his appointees,” a senior White House official told CNN. “He’s called on them as a group to rein in the lower courts and do the right thing, but has intentionally not attacked any of the Justices by name.”

Statistically, Barrett still votes with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito—the Court’s most consistent constitutional conservatives—around 80% of the time, according to Empirical SCOTUS, showing that she remains aligned with key right-leaning jurisprudence in the majority of cases.

However, frustration has also recently extended beyond the bench. Trump aimed last week at Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo, a major voice in conservative judicial circles and an adviser during Trump’s first term, after a group of federal judges ruled against his tariff policies.

“I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “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 way, probably hates America, and has separate ambitions.”

Trump’s remarks reflect broader dissatisfaction within the conservative base, which expects more consistent constitutionalist rulings from the justices they worked hard to confirm. Yet even as he expresses concern, Trump continues to promote judicial independence and fidelity to the Constitution, values sharply contrasted with the left’s court-packing ambitions and disregard for precedent.