President Donald Trump publicly criticized his Supreme Court appointees after the justices ruled against his administration's attempt to restrict mail ballots ahead of the midterm elections. This decision, which allows states to continue their current mail-in voting processes, was seen by Trump as a personal betrayal, leading him to label the justices as "shells" beholden to "crazed" liberal interests.
Trump's ire extended beyond the mail ballot ruling to include other Supreme Court decisions that blocked aspects of his agenda, such as limiting birthright citizenship and enacting sweeping tariffs. He claimed these "shockingly bad rulings" were "costing the United States Trillions of Dollars" and would make it difficult for the country to recover.
While none of Trump's specific appointees—Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, or Amy Coney Barrett—publicly dissented from the majority opinion on mail ballots, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas stated they would have allowed the restrictions. Trump lauded Alito and Thomas as "legends both." He asserted that his appointees were "not the people I interviewed" and were merely "a shell of their original selves" when they ruled against him.
Despite his recent frustrations, the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice John Roberts, has previously ruled in favor of Trump on several key priorities. Notably, a 2024 decision granted former presidents presumptive immunity for official acts, which cleared the way for Trump to run for reelection without facing a criminal trial that year.
Trump has long opposed mail voting, falsely attributing his 2020 election loss to it. A 2025 Brookings Institution report found that mail voting fraud was exceedingly rare, occurring in only about four cases per every 10 million mail ballots cast. Approximately one-third of voters utilize mail ballots, and the recent ruling ensures that established mail-in voting procedures will continue for the upcoming midterms.
