President Donald Trump late Thursday tore into Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo, the man who had once advised him on his Supreme Court picks, calling him a “sleazebag” who “probably hates America” after a panel of judges said most of his tariffs were illegal.
“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 late Thursday. “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.”
Earlier in the day, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of International Trade found that Trump had overstepped his authority when imposing tariffs on imports from U.S. trading partners.
Two of the judges deciding the case were Republican appointees, including one Trump had seated on the bench, reports CBS News.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit quickly granted an emergency motion to stay the ruling, after the administration argued that stopping the decision was “critical for the country’s national security.”
In addition to attacking Leo, Trump also slammed the Federalist Society and the three judges who ruled against his tariffs.
“Where do these initial three Judges come from?” he said. “How is it possible for them to have potentially done such damage to the United States of America? Is it purely a hatred of ‘TRUMP?’ What other reason could it be?”
Leo, in a statement to Politico, said he’s grateful for Trump’s work in “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 added.
Newsmax has reached out to the Federalist Society.
Leo and the Federalist Society have been connected with Trump since his first campaign in 2016, when he promised that “We’re going to have great judges, conservative, all picked by the Federalist Society.”
Trump was also advised on his Supreme Court picks by Leo, who, along with other attorneys, helped him assemble lists of potential justices that were used to select his three nominees to the court.
Shortly after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement in 2018, Leo said the president had “called and asked to meet and suggested the idea of doing a list.”
The seat ended up being filled by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Trump said during a 2019 event that Leo and others worked “very hard” on the list of justices.
Thursday, though, Trump posted that he was “disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations” and said that Leo left the conservative organization to “do his own thing.'”
Trump’s relationship with Leo also reportedly became strained after Justices Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Neil Gorsuch, the three conservative justices he appointed to the Supreme Court, did not intervene to keep him in office after his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden.
Three other conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Justice Samuel Alito, have also been linked to the Federalist Society, mainly through Leo, reports Time.
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